


Yugi, Harry and the Gobet of Fire

by JoeyTaylor



Series: Clanverse [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, F/M, Ombre, kari ironhide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 06:43:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 129,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16258796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoeyTaylor/pseuds/JoeyTaylor
Summary: Summer is over and yet the insanity has yet to end, what could happen now they are back at school?





	1. Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> As mentioned in the fic before this, the summer story for this fic was never finished and it's not mine to post. It belongs to my co-author. I will need thier permission to post it here so I've left it out for now. Please excuse any confusion caused by this as the story starts.

**_To Ron,_ **

**_Sorry we fell out of contact, things got a little insane over here. Full details when we get back, but suffice to say we kicked ass._ **

**_Would you believe our school supply letters reached us in the middle of nowhere? I'm not joking, we were on an unknown island in the middle of the Ocean!_ **

**_We've bought our school supplies already, we visited the local version of Diagon Alley yesterday and will hopefully be able to meet up with you on the train unless you have tickets to the finals of the Quidditch World Cup. Just wait until you find out how we got ours._ **

**_See you soon._ **

**_Yugi, Yami, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Harry, Rebecca, Duke, Mokuba & Ombre._ **

**_P.S. Seto says Hi in his delightful way again._ **

* * *

**_To Hermione,_ **

**_Look! We're alive! Now stop worrying. Everything got a little crazy around here, there and everywhere, for a while but everyone's fine now._ **

**_This Summer has been one crazy event after another. Harry found us eventually, we got Yugi back, Yami's acting as normal as he_ **

**_Ignore Joey, everything's fine, everyone's fine, Yami won the Tournament, Tea's show was great, the magical jail cells_ **

**_Hi Hermione, Becs here. We're all coming to see the Quidditch Final, hopefully we'll meet you there. The American Ministry is really_ **

**_How do you get any peace with this lot in your school? I've never seen anyone fight over a letter before._ **

**_Hermione, I hope you don't mind that most of your letter has been written by people you barely know. Harry's currently holding Joey down while us sane ones are hiding under the table._ **

**_You would have thought that they didn't want to tell you about their Summer._ **

* * *

Hermione was feeling aggravated as she helped Mr Weasley pitch the tent and with good reason.

"At least your letter had a proper ending."

Ron Weasley was no less aggravated but was waiting a little better, and he'd heard this rant a good thirteen hundred times by now.

"Yes, but it had less information." Ron tried to placate her once again and, just like the last twelve thousand nine hundred and ninety nine times, it didn't stop Hermione from glaring at him and continuing on about how they could have said more in the letter and how they didn't even mention what type of trouble it had been, and what did Joey mean, they had gotten Yugi back, what had happened to him?

This rant continued for a good ten, fifteen minutes, covering everything and amusing the Weasley twins with Hermione's range of non-expletive non-magical curses.

The Weasleys had to wonder just how long Hermione had been saving this rant and if she'd have any steam left to rant at the group when they finally met up.

Finally running out of things to rant about, and unaware she'd repeated several things on the rant list at least fourteen times, Hermione finally bashed the last tent peg into place, imagining it was one of the gang's heads and sat down to look at the shabby, two man tents.

"There'll be enough room, for everyone." Mr Weasley said reassuringly.

Ron grinned, had he ever told anyone just how much he loved magic?

"Ron, I need to talk to you." Hermione whispered. "Privately."

Ron nodded. "Hey Dad, we'll go get the water if you want."

"Really?" Arthur's face lit up. "Well the buckets are around here somewhere…"

"Here Dad." Fred said, chucking them to Ron, a speculative look on his face as he looked at his little brother.

"Alright, don't take too long." Arthur gave Ron a sly smile.

Ron blushed bright red and took off with Hermione in hot pursuit.

* * *

"Just put them on Archie, there's a good chap."

Joey and Harry grinned at each other, as two people back in the queue for water member of the English Ministry of Magic attempted to get an older Wizard into a pair of pinstriped trousers.

"I bought this in a Muggle Shop," Archie continued, "Muggle wear them."

"Muggle _women_ wear them, Archie, not the men, they where these!" He brandished the trousers.

"I'm not putting them on," Said Archie indignantly, "I like a healthy breeze round my privates, thanks."

Someone ducked out of the queue, giggling heavily.

"Should I?" Harry asked.

"Don't go too far." Joey advised.

Harry ducked out of the queue too, leaving Joey with the buckets. The blonde watched his friend for a moment, smiling as it took the girl half a moment to recognise Harry with the new clothes and the bandana hiding his scar, then wincing sympathetically as Hermione slapped the poor teen before hugging him.

She'd been spending way too much time with Kari.

To be fair to her, the last message Hermione had gotten until after all the craziness had finished was Harry's owl arriving with a white ribbon and the symbols for 'danger', 'flying', and 'don't owl me'. Not the most reassuring thing to be left hanging on for a few weeks and their letter after the craziness hadn't been much better.

The only problem was that she was going to demand to know exactly what had happened and there was no way that they could discuss it in public, even in amongst a group of witches and wizards.

He got his water, ducked out of the queue and had time to put them down before he was floored by a right hook from the angry teen, "Why can't you tell me what happened? I was so worried about you!"

"Hermione…" Joey was barely on his feet before he was hugged, "Hermione it was M.I. stuff."

"I don't care." She sniffed.

"Mione…"

"Oi, Joey!" Ron looked rather annoyed too.

 _Perfect, just perfect._ Joey grumbled to himself, as Ron filled the buckets he'd been left with when Hermione ducked out of the queue and stormed over, glaring.

"What happened?"

"M.I. Incident, I can't talk about it here."

Ron had to pause before he ranted, slowing as the phrase sunk in, and his glare died slightly. An M.I. Incident could mean anything from Soul Sucking to stopping the End of the World and anything and everything in between.

Getting no letters from anyone suddenly made a lot more sense.

Ron was still annoyed about being left out of the loop, but now something else took precedence. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yugi and Yami are practising something at the tents, Tristan was still asleep, Ombre and Tea have gone looking for the Ministry tents to see if she can't find Kari, who's here as a liaison for Kaiba Corp, who're sponsoring the Finals." Joey listed, "Kaiba and Mokuba went back to Japan a week and a bit ago and should have arrived yesterday, so they're probably hunting Kari down too…"

"But you're all alright?" Hermione asked quietly.

"We're alright." Harry nodded.

"Where're you pitched? We'll come find you once we've taken the water back."

"Under the name Muto. Look for the white tent, it's Grandpa's so it's enchanted to be bigger inside then out, it has enough room for us guys at least."

"Muto tent, big and white, got it." Hermione nodded, wiping her face with her hand. "See you later."

"Later." Joey nodded.

Ron gave him a parting glare and Joey sighed. _Note to self, warn everyone that we're going to be in the dog house for a while._

* * *

"Hi guys!" Yugi waved at the two as they returned, "The fire's going, breakfast anyone?"

"Bacon smells good, you get the nack of that thing Yami was trying to show you?" Joey asked settling at the fireside.

"Almost." Yugi smiled slightly, "It's actually pretty easy compared to some of the things I've been learning."

"Where did you get the idea anyway?" Harry asked the Pharaoh as he started grabbing plates, "I don't think I've ever seen you do it."

"I can't do it." Yami said, dishing out the buttered bread, "But it's not that much different a spell, it's just calling light rather then Shadows." He traded the last of the buttered bread for his slices of bacon, "And Yugi came up with the idea, I'm just showing him how to do it safely."

"Before I forget," Joey said as everyone tucked in, "Hermione and Ron are gonna come looking for us and they're pissed we kept them out of the loop."

There was silence for a moment, and a collection of shudders as everyone remembered exactly why they'd fallen out of contact with Ron and Hermione this Summer.

"Anyway, thanks for breakfast guys." Harry nodded to the Mutos, who smiled.

"Itadakimasu." Joey grinned and tucked in.

* * *

"Are you mad at them?"

"I don't know." There was a sigh, "I should be, I mean, they promised not to exclude us from things again, but then if it was an M.I. Incident, then I guess I can understand them getting distracted."

"You do realise they're not going to give us full details in public like this, they don't even like talking about it on the train."

Pursed lips, "I understand why they're so paranoid, but surely they can trust us."

"It's not that they don't trust us, it's that they don't trust everyone else with the sort of powers that they wield."

"But…"

"Don't get me wrong, I think they're wrong in some respects, but I wouldn't trust certain people with Shadow Magic, I mean, could you imagine Draco Malfoy with some of his brother's powers?"

"But…"

"And would you want to run the risk of being found out by the wrong people and them attempting to take the M.I.s or worse pulling a Marik and coming through us to get to them?"

"Deep, Ron?

"I've had time to think it over." A shrug, "We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into, did we?"

"They never forced us to stay friends with them."

"I'm not saying they did, we just weren't aware of just how much craziness follows them and Harry around."

"Well, there's the tent, guess we can only see how much they're willing to say for now."

A nod.

"Let's go."

* * *

"What does that mean?" Harry asked as they started cleaning up.

"Huh?"

"That word, Itadasimaku."

"Itadakimasu." Yami corrected with a small grin, "It directly translates as 'I receive', but it's the polite way of thanking people who helped make the meal you're about to eat."

"Is it too late to say it?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"After a meal the phrase you want is, gochisōsama deshita." Tristan advised.

"Goshisosma deshita." Harry attempted.

Yugi grinned, "It's gochisōsama deshita, but nice try."

"Teach me?" Harry pleaded.

"I'll start Japanese lessons, if you'll wash up." Yugi said to Joey, who shrugged and was about to get to his feet when Hermione and Ron turned up, opened their mouths, caught sight of Yami and shut them again.

Then Hermione spoke, "Yami, are you wearing your de-aging charm?"

Yugi and Joey looked at each other as Yami said something rude under his breath about the American Ministry of Magic.

"What was that?"

Yugi stepped between Hermione and the rather angry looking fourteen year old Pharaoh, "We had a run in with the American Ministry, and well," Yugi cringed, well aware of how Yami was going to take the next comment, "Do you know how to make aging potions?"

Yugi cringed as Yami's mental tirade against stupid American laws on ancient spirits and possession rang in his head and Hermione looked thoughtful.

"I'll do you a trade." She said finally, "You tell us about what happened and I'll find out how to make one."

There was a pause as the group at the tent took a look around to see who was nearby, then Yami said, "Deal."


	2. The Qudditch World Cup

They were halfway through explaining when Fred and George gate crashed the group, demanding to know why they hadn't been asked for help, letting them know they would have flown all the way to America to help, and that Harry shouldn't worry, they knew who the real Harry was all along.

This was then followed by a member of the English Ministry popping along to check they were still there and that Harry hadn't vanished again, an American Auror checking Yami wasn't breaking any more laws, then lunch, then several people popping by to see the group who'd been arrested for the kidnap of Harry Potter and a couple of their school mates who wanted to know exactly how much trouble they'd gotten in and would they be back to school in September?

By which point dusk was falling and they had to give up on the explanations, much to Yami's disgust since it meant he'd have to wait for an aging potion, and split up to go watch the Quidditch.

The group who had been in the magical jail cells in America were on their way to the Ministry box, where the American Ministry were based, minus Seto who had stopped by to make a surprise announcement, probably badgered into it by Mokuba, announcing that after the match the Kaiba tent was open to the group.

Since it was much bigger on the inside then Grandpa Muto's or the Weasley's a surprised group had taken him up on the offer.

Salesmen apparated into the crowds with trays of things, Harry bought everyone a pair of Omniocluars, which could replay action, slow everything down and flash up a play by play if they needed it. This caused some outcry when they finally browbeat Harry into telling them how much they had cost, but it had settled when he'd told them they wouldn't be getting anything for Christmas from him.

Following the green and red lanterns through the woods, discussing tactics, Duel Monsters, and the girls chatting about something in low voices that the boys couldn't hear over the noise of singing and laughing and joking Quidditch fans, they finally emerged in the shadow of a huge golden stadium, bigger then anything any of the Duellists had ever competed in by about ten to twentyfold.

The wizard at the doors checked their tickets and smirked, "Mr Potter and friends." He made a great show of examining Harry, "Are you sure he's the real Harry Potter?"

"Yes, we're certain." Yugi sighed, "Can we go in?"

"Up to the top and to the right." The whole group went on in and Joey looked over the heads of Tea and Tristan, who were both wearing Yugi and Joey's de-aging amulets so they looked underage, the only way they could get away without showing any magic, to Harry who looked vaguely annoyed.

"You do realise that's not going to get old, don't you?"

"Well…" Harry had to duck out of the way of a group of overly enthusiastic children. "I'm bored of it."

By the time they reached their box the only people in the crowd were people for the Kaiba Corp box, people for the Hosting Ministry box and the box that had been specially reserved for the American Ministry guests. Kari poked her head out of the door, Omniocluars in hand, "Guys, hand around after the match, I know where the Kaiba tent is."

"Got it." Yugi nodded, "Bulgaria to win?"

"Na, Ireland, they have the stronger team." Kari said before ducking into her box and obviously they were either full or everyone they were expecting was there as she shut the door behind her.

Yugi took his seat eagerly, having looked forward to this since they'd been given the tickets as compensation, the stadium was crowded, lit by a soft golden light and the pitch below looked as smooth as velvet, below, hanging on some of the stadium plinths was a huge blackboard that had writing on it that was changing every few seconds, making Yugi grin as he saw an advertisement for the new KC Duel Disks, he had to get one of those before the next Tournament, but was quite happy with his old one.

"What do you think the National Team display will be?" Harry was asking Ombre, who shrugged, "Formation Flying?"

"No, it's team mascots, not the team itself." Tea said, reading the pamphlet.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…" All of them jumped a mile, "WELCOME! WELCOME TO THE FINAL OF THE FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SECOND QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP!"

The stadium roared in anticipation and the blackboard's last message was wiped in favour of BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.

"AND NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE THE BULGARIAN TEAM MASCOTS!"

Yugi froze as the team mascots entered the stadium. He knew what they were by everyone's reaction, the fact that Ombre and Tea were the only ones in the box that weren't reacting and he was sure it was the Puzzle protecting him from their effects, just as it had back at the Tournament that Yami had lost to a Duellist who was at least half a one.

They were Veela.

Luckily the display was over before any of the group could do anything stupid, and they retook their seats, blushing bright red.

' _Veela?'_ Yami sounded resigned.

" _Yeap."_ Yugi chuckled.

"AND NOW, KINDLY PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE IRISH TEAM MASCOTS!"

A great green and gold comet came zooming into the stadium, split into two and a rainbow arched across the pitch joining the two balls of light, golden rain falling from it.

"Gold?" Yugi asked, catching some of it.

"Awesome!" Joey collected a respectable pile of it.

The giant shamrock that the two light orbs had formed disappeared and the leprechauns, sat opposite the veela.

"AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, KINDLY WELCOME THE BULGARIAN NATIONAL QUIDDITCH TEAM! I GIVE YOU DIMITROV! IVANOVA! ZOGRAF! LEVSKI! VULCHANOV! VOLKOV! ANDDDD KRUM!" To a huge roar from the crowd with seemed to gain intensity with the bellow of Krum's name, the Bulgarian Team zoomed out onto the pitch.

"Isn't Krum a huge name in international Quidditch?" Tristan was asking.

"How would you know?"

"I read."

"AND NOW, PLEASE GREET THE IRISH NATIONAL QUIDDITCH TEAM!" Any chance for a retort was cut off, "PRESENTING, CONNONLLY! RYAN! TROY! MULLET! MORAN! QUIGLEY! ANDDDD LYNCH!"

Several green blurs shot onto the pitch to another huge roar from the crowd.

"AND HERE, ALL THE WAY FROM EGYPT, OUR REFEREE, ACCLAIMED CHAIRWIZARD OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOSSCIATION OF QUIDDITCH, HUSSAN MOSTAFA!"

A small figure in gold robes walked out onto the pitch, Harry finally remembered to use his Omnioculars, he was a short, thin wizard, who was completely bald but with a rather bushy moustache. There was a silver whistle under said moustache and he carried a box that was unlocked but not open under one arm and his broomstick under the other.

He mounted the broom and kicked the crate open.

Four balls burst into the air, the first, the scarlet Quaffle, which, at Hogwarts, was Yugi's concern, second came the two Bludgers and finally the Golden Snitch, worth a hundred and fifty points, it's capture would end the game.

Yugi edged forward until he was sat on the edge of his seat.

Mostafa blew his whistle.

"THEEEEY'RE OFF!"

* * *

"I told you the Irish were better!" Kari crowed.

"Yeah but look at Krum!" Joey pointed out as they assembled at the Kaiba tent, the elder Kaiba already inside attempting to do some work.

"He's good, but a single good player can't replace an entire team." Yugi pointed out.

"No, but he can win the game if he catches the Snitch in time." Yami surprised himself by pointing out.

"True, but in this case I think Krum was trying to end the game on his own terms, Ireland were playing too well."

Fred and George were doing a victory dance of some kind, there was a huge debate going on as regards to the result of the Quidditch match between Harry, Yugi, Yami, Joey, Ron, Tristan, Ombre, Bill and Charlie, Percy had vanished to talk to someone and Robyn had slipped off during the excitement.

"I bet Harry could do it!" Fred was saying. "Harry could pull off almost anything!"

"What?"

"The Wronski Feint!"

"I'll have a go." Yugi piped up, causing Yami t give him a look that was half horror and half, well Ron wasn't sue what it was.

"I think you'd give Yami a heart attack." Joey laughed.

"Oh come on Yami," Yugi pleaded, "It's not like I'd be trying it without anyone around and…"

"I know I promised I wouldn't be over protective but…"

"Try it when he's not watching." Ron whispered to Yugi who struggled to keep a straight face.

There was still chanting and cheering going on as Ombre finished the hot chocolate she'd had going over the stove inside the tent and started dishing it out. It was a signal, not for them to drift off, none of them were ready for that yet, but for them to sink to the dry ground and sit together, talking among friends and continuing their rousing debate.

Harry found himself drifting off, and he wasn't the only one, he noticed as he woke up for the seventh or eighth time. Hermione was leant against Kari, fast asleep, and, to his surprise they'd been joined by Seto who was in the middle of discussing or rather debating with Yami over some move or another.

Mr Weasley and Yami were the first ones to react to the screams, with Yugi, Joey, Kari, Ombre and Tristan in close second.

Hermione woke up as Kari urgently shook her, "Wha?"

"Trouble." Yami growled as he spotted bright flashes over the top of the tents.

Someone was levitating the muggles in charge of the campsite, they were flopping around like dolls, contorting into odd shapes, several tents were on fire and they were heading this way.

"We're going to help the Ministry." Mr Weasley said, "You lot get to the…"

Yugi pushed the Millennium Puzzle into Yami's hands, "You're underage now, you can only use the Puzzle's power." The Pharaoh suddenly realised what was going on, "Mr Weasley, Joey and I can beat you there."

"What?"

"Apparaître Curse of Dragon!" Yugi cast without thinking, pouring enough Magic into the casting to create a full sized Duel Monster.

"Yugi?" Yami asked, worried.

"Protect the others." Yugi said, as Joey, Ombre and Kaiba all summoned their dragons, Kaiba allowing Kari to borrow a Blue Eyes.

"Mokuba, go with them."

"But big brother…"

"Yami, if you let my brother get hurt, you will pay."

Yami's eyes didn't waver from Yugi's as he nodded, "Be careful, Yugi, please."

" _I promise."_ The group with the dragons took off, literally, towards the wizards.

"Yami," Mr Weasley shook himself out of shock, not having expected them to do that, "I'm trusting you to protect the others, Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility! Stick together! Head for the woods, you should be safe there." He paused before adding as an aside to Yami, "Do what you have to, but don't hurt anyone who isn't attack you."

"I swear on my deck and wand." Yami agreed.

Percy, Bill and Charlie had started sprinting towards the crowd when the dragons had taken off and Mr Weasley joined them.

Yami paused long enough to watch the first of the dragon attacks, then raced after the kids.

' _You better come back in one piece Yugi.'_

" _I will, I promise."_

Yugi's reply startled the Pharaoh until he realised that it was just his mind giving what he knew Yugi's answer would be.

* * *

"We're insane." Joey shouted over the noise of dragon wings.

Yugi just nodded and sent Curse of Dragon into a steep dive that cut half the group of wizards below off from the other half. Joey followed, Red Eyes using it's Inferno Fire Blast to make the separation permanent.

The Duel Monsters were enjoying this, as much as they could and for a moment Joey was reminded that this wasn't the first battle that they had fought in like this, but them he had to direct Red Eyes into a dodge that nearly had him off it's back. If they were going to fight like this again, he was going to learn how to ride his dragon properly.

He didn't even know where Yugi had got the idea for this from but… Another Inferno Fire Blast at the edge of the group caught robes alight.

There was a scream as Kari's Blue Eyes was hit by a spell that had to be an Avada Kedava and vanished, causing the woman to fall from the sky. Joey urged his dragon into a dive to catch her, but before he could get there, Kaiba's Blue Eyes caught her.

The masked wizards below were in retreat, scared of the dragons, not even thinking to Apperate and running straight into the arms of Ministry wizards. Yugi's Curse of Dragon's Dragonflame attack, tactically laid down between tents, cut off another escape route.

"Yuge!" Joey pointed as he spotted another masked wizard, someone who'd been mad enough to jump through the flames.

The Heir to the Shadows sent his dragon after them as the others rounded up the last of the masked Wizards.

"Avada Kedava!"

Curse of Dragon twisted without direction as it came at a low altitude, protecting Yugi of it's own fruition, vanishing close enough to the ground for Yugi to land safely and draw his wand.

"Shit." Joey growled, more then aware that Yugi could win any game, but this was war and the Heir and the Masked Wizard were now locked in a life and death battle.

Ombre's Red Eyes Darkness Dragon swept past Joey's dragon as Yugi was floored, and the wizard approached, wand pointing at Yugi's chest.

More screams erupted as a huge green glittering skull, with a serpent coming out of it's mouth like a tongue, surrounded by greenish smoke appeared above the forest.

The Dark Fire Blast Attack missed the Apperating wizard by millimetres.

Joey snarled as the group they'd rounded up vanished at the same time.

Yugi was already running towards the forest and Joey stopped in front of him allowing Yugi to mount before they headed for the woods.

"Joey, don't tell Yami." Yugi murmured.

"I won't." Joey promised.

They landed as Hermione shouted at a wizard about his House Elf. Dismissing the dragons they raced over to their friends as Mr Weasley took back Harry's wand.

"Yugi, are you alright?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded.

"The flames?"

Yugi's eyes widened as he remembered the flames rampaging through the campsite, and that not all of them had been the work of Death Eaters.

"I've got it." Kaiba said quickly, once again surprising them, "Apparaître Golden Rain!"

The heavens opened, drenching everyone in a gold coloured rain that seemed to restore the energy of everyone it touched and put out the many fires everywhere.

"Thank you." Yugi smiled at Kaiba, who hadn't left Kari's side yet, even to cast the spell.

"You're welcome." Kaiba nodded.

"Who are you and what have you done with Seto Kaiba?" Joey's wand was at Kaiba's throat before anyone saw him move.

"What's this?"

"You let someone else ride a Blue Eyes, you trusted Yami with your brother, you…"

"I am Seto Kaiba, Kari Ironhide is my employee, Mokuba Kaiba is my brother, Kisara my partner, I can call her if you need proof."

Joey nodded as the ministry wizards watched.

' _Kisara!'_ "Kisara!" Kaiba called both mentally and out loud and the dragon arrived almost instantly.

 _Black Dragon Rider,_ She broadcast into everyone's mind, _Would you mind removing your wand from my partner's throat before I make you?_ Joey was quick to comply.

"Sorry Kaiba."

Kaiba snorted but there was understanding in his cold gaze.

Yugi took the Millennium Puzzle back from Yami as Mr Weasley managed to get the Ministry to let them go back to their tents, but instead of heading back to their separate tents, they headed back to the Kaiba one, sleeping wherever there was space.

' _Yugi?'_

" _Yes?"_ Yugi was awake enough for short sentences but not much more.

' _I'm sorry.'_

" _For what?"_

' _I couldn't help.'_

" _You helped in a big way, we couldn't have fought like that if our friends had been in the way. Can you show me your memories of what happened after we split up?"_ Yugi sat up and looked at the Pharaoh who was playing at being asleep.

' _Sure…'_

* * *

Yami wasn't happy at having to leave his hikari behind, but Yugi had had a point, Yami was underage now, and as such the Shadows were the only type of magic he could use outside of school.

A thought played at his mind as they entered the dark forest, surely this counts as a life and death situation. "Lumos."

His wand lit up, allowing them to see as people blundered about in the dark, the sudden light making Ron trip over on a root.

Fred, George, Ginny, Tea and Hermione were gone, leaving Mokuba, Tristan, Yami, Ron and Harry on the path which was filled with scared witches and wizards looking back over their shoulders towards the campsite.

"Lumos." Ron called giving them a bit more light and Harry dug around in his pockets.

"Harry?" Mokuba asked, drawing his wand easily.

"I don't believe it."

"What?" Yami demanded.

"I've lost my wand."

Yami and Ron raised their wands as high as they could to get a better look around but it was nowhere to be seen.

"It's got to be back at the Kaiba tent." Yami reasoned, though he was feeling completely unreasonable.

"Or it fell out of your pocket when we were running. We could retrace our steps." Mokuba said thoughtfully.

"Once it's safe. I have no great urge to find out exactly what your brother would do to me if you got hurt." Yami growled.

A house elf burst through the clearing, squeaking something about bad wizards and finding a place to hide.

"What's up with her?" Ron asked, "Why can't she run properly?"

"Didn't ask permission to hide?" Harry guessed.

They followed the path deeper into the woods, though Yami wanted to stay at it's edge and watch the battle going on, finding men shouting about something in a patch of silvery light that shone from…

Yami stuck his fingers in his ears and closed his eyes, fed up veela and wishing they'd go away.

Between that and Ron falling under their spell, Mokuba and Harry had to drag the two away and Yami didn't open his eyes again until they were safely away.

"I hate Veela." Yami growled.

"What was it?" Mokuba teased, "1900 - 0 in the end?"

Yami didn't reply, he was too busy glaring at Mokuba.

Harry looked around in the wand light, it was a small clearing, deep enough for them to be able to hide, "I reckon we could wait here, the gang could see us a-dragonback and we could hear someone coming a mile off."

With that a ministry man popped in, had the situation explained to him and popped back out again.

"That was Ludo Bagman." Ron frowned, "He was a great beater for the Wimbourne Wasps, but not exactly on top of things."

Yami was pacing, trying to hear noises from the campsite. It seemed to have gone quiet.

"Do you think they're alright?" Mokuba asked, worried about his older brother.

"They're riding DRAGONS, what's the worst that could happen?" Ron automatically wished he hadn't asked that as Harry and Yami glared at him.

"Shush." Mokuba hissed.

"Nox." Yami murmured, Ron following. It sounded like someone was coming up on their clearing.

"Who's there?" Yami demanded.

"MORSMORDRE!"

Far above them in the sky, a huge green glittering skull, with a serpent coming out of it's mouth like a tongue, surrounded by greenish smoke appeared.

The wood around them erupted in screams, which was possibly why Harry didn't hear Hermione ad Tea arrive until Hermione tackle-glomped him. They were about to leave the clearing when twenty wizards apparated in, "Stupefy!"

Yami didn't even think, he was dropping to the ground, taking Mokuba with him as Harry pulled Hermione and Ron down and the collective spell passed over their heads and knocked over a bunch of trees giving them a firm view of the campsite and it's dragon protectors.

"Stop!" Yami's head shot up, he knew that voice! "Stop! That's my son!"

Mr Weasley was striding towards them looking terrified. Yami was on his feet in seconds, Harry and the others following.

What followed was Mr Crouch attempting to prove, one after the other that they were the ones to cast the Dark Mark, only stopping when Mokuba pointed out that the spell came from over there, and pointed in the direction it came from.

It turned out to be a house elf who had found Harry's wand.

Crouch's house elf.

Who had no information for them at all.

The dragons landed as Hermione launched into a scathing tirade at Mr Crouch for freeing his house elf when she'd been scared and their friends raced over.

"Yugi, are you alright?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded.

"The flames?" Yami asked, worried.

Yugi's eyes widened as he remembered the flames rampaging through the campsite, and that not all of them had been the work of Death Eaters.

"I've got it." Kaiba said quickly, once again surprising them, "Apparaître Golden Rain!"

The heavens opened, drenching everyone in a gold coloured rain that seemed to restore the energy of everyone it touched and put out the many fires everywhere.

"Thank you." Yugi smiled at Kaiba, who hadn't left Kari's side yet, even to cast the spell.

"You're welcome." Kaiba nodded.

"Who are you and what have you done with Seto Kaiba?" Joey's wand was at Kaiba's throat before anyone saw him move.

"What's this?"

"You let someone else ride a Blue Eyes, you trusted Yami with your brother, you…"

"I am Seto Kaiba, Kari Ironhide is my employee, Mokuba Kaiba is my brother, Kisara my partner, I can call her if you need proof."

Joey nodded as the ministry wizards watched.

' _Kisara!'_ "Kisara!" Kaiba called both mentally and out loud and the dragon arrived almost instantly.

 _Black Dragon Rider,_ She broadcast into everyone's mind, _Would you mind removing your wand from my partner's throat before I make you?_ Joey was quick to comply.

"Sorry Kaiba."

* * *

" _They think a House Elf using Harry's wand summoned the Dark Mark?"_ Yugi sounded surprised.

' _Apparently.'_

" _And you were a help."_

' _Was not.'_

" _Was too."_

' _Was not.'_

" _Was too."_

* * *

Hermione was awake too, thinking over what had happened while she'd been separated from her friends with only Tea for company.

"This is crazy, the boys can't have gone that far." Tea complained.

"It's the boys." Hermione pointed out.

"Ok, they couldn't have left the country yet, hell I bet they haven't even left the county."

Hermione snorted.

Another group of scared people, passed them, chased by a spell and the two ran for it.

A blonde woman caught up with them, when they stopped, Hermione recognised her as the woman who'd been with Kari at Kaiba's tent. "Robyn?"

The woman looked at her carefully, seeming to make up her mind. "Where are your brothers?"

"Brothers?" Hermione asked, but Tea was already answering.

"We lost them, some of them are fighting, some of them are in the woods somewhere."

Robyn nodded and vanished.

"Brothers?" Hermione asked again, "I thought you were an only child."

Tea snorted, "Yugi, Yami, Tristan and Joey are my brothers and by extension Harry and Ron now I guess."

"Does this mean I have an older sister?" Hermione hazarded.

Tea looked at her then grinned, "I always wanted a younger sister, now lets see if we can't find the others."

* * *

_Brothers…_

The word sounded nice in Hermione's head, that she had brothers and wasn't an only child.

It was this thought that Hermione fell asleep too.


	3. Hellos and Goodbyes

They didn't get to sleep for very long, as Mr Weasley woke them just a few hours later, suggesting that they get out of here and offering them the shelter of the Weasley home until the Hogwarts Express was ready to leave in a week's time.

Kaiba had already booked himself an international Portkey and would be returning the same way on train day, and Mokuba, Kari and Ombre had gone with him.

Harry and Hermione had gone with Ron and his family, while the rest of the group, minus Robyn who had vanished again, had agreed to meet up for the second Portkey to the area near Ron's house, and had arrived at their tents, only to find that someone was waiting for them.

Yami would have been worried, except he recognised the teen.

"S…Serenity?" Joey gasped, moving forward quickly.

"I knew it!" The brunette gasped, staring at them, "I knew it when I saw the dragons!"

"You're a Witch?"

"You're a Madoushi?"

Serenity and Joey spoke simultaneously, Serenity giving the Japanese for Mage.

"How?" Yugi asked, coming forward and earning himself a startled smile from the younger sister of his best friend. "I didn't even guess…"

"I should have known you were a Wizard, Yugi, especially after Battle City." Serenity said, "I'm a last year student at Morning Glory, just outside of Tokyo."

"We're studying at Hogwarts, in Scotland." Joey said quickly, still stunned, "I didn't know…"

"Mum told me not to tell you, in case you got jealous or angry that magic couldn't fix my eyes…"

"Is she a Witch too?"

Serenity nodded as the others started to take the tents down, then she frowned, "But why are you at Hogwarts, surely you should be at a Japanese School."

There was a frown for a second as Joey thought about everything they'd learnt from Pegasus, even though he didn't trust the man, then he sighed, deciding to go with half of the truth, "The Japanese Schools had no room, so when the Millennium Magic was revealed to the Wizarding world during a Duel Monsters tournament, we were given places at Hogwarts."

"Even though you were too old?" Serenity asked, "Surely it would have been easier to get private tutors… oh…" Serenity's expression changed as she remembered that her brother couldn't afford it… "Sorry."

Joey smiled and shrugged, "S'ok." He looked at the others, who had already demolished the tents. "Are you here alone?"

"No, I'm with some friends." Serenity shook her head, "We're heading back today. If only I'd known you'd be here!"

"We didn't know ourselves until a month ago." Yami said, "It's nice to meet you properly, Serenity." He bowed to her.

"You're Yami, Yugi's brother, right?" Serenity asked.

"That's right." Yami nodded.

"It's nice to meet you too." Serenity smiled, a shrewd smile that had Yami wondering exactly how much she was like her brother. "I should go; I'll send post to your school." She turned to her brother, "You know, I would appreciate it if I didn't find out why my brother didn't contact me by finding it out in the papers, or finding a Red Eyes Black Dragon flying overhead."

"I apologised for not getting in contact over the summer!" Joey protested. "And you didn't tell me you were a witch either!"

Serenity pouted, then gave Yugi a wink, causing the hikari to smile slightly, Serenity was teasing her brother.

"I suppose I could forgive you." Serenity teased, "After all, I'll be out of school before you."

Joey's eyes widened and he grumbled as he realised she was teasing him, "Can you receive owl mail at your school?" He asked, now realising why the post he sent M2M took so long to reach her, Magical to Muggle would only get so far, and then it would have to be swapped to Magical again for the last part of the journey.

"Yeap." Serenity grinned, "Though I hope you won't use one owl, it's a very long way to fly."

"I'm not that daft." Joey poked his tongue out at her.

"Joey!" Tristan called, looking pointedly at his watch.

"I'll send you a letter soon." Serenity promised, "Term starts when?"

"A week's time." Joey said, "Your's?"

"A week and a half."

"And it was Morning Glory, right?" Joey asked. Serenity nodded. He hugged his sister tightly, having missed her dearly. "I'll message you soon sis, I promise."

"If you don't, I'll bombard you with letters." She promised, then dashed off to find her friends.

"Where did the Portkey we need go?" Tristan asked, wanting to take off the amulet he'd borrowed from Yugi. It felt weird on him and at least he could claim to be Joey's squib brother at the Weasley household.

"Stoatshead Hill." Yugi said, casting his gaze around for anything they'd missed and seeing nothing, smiled sadly and said, "Well, it was fun, while it lasted…"

"We can't seem to avoid the crazy Yuge." Joey shrugged, "At least this time it wasn't aimed at us."

"No," Tea said, "I've had enough of that for now."

"You'll miss us." Joey said, dodging Tea's arm as she tried to swat him.

"When's your flight?" Yami asked as they headed up the hill.

"Mine's tomorrow evening." Tristan said, "I'm due for work at a Tournament in Germany in three days time."

"Mine's tomorrow morning." Tea said, "I have to be back in class on Tuesday."

Yugi remembered they'd dragged her away from weeks of potential practise and work. "Sorry Tea."

"What for?" She asked cheerily, a little too cheerily but… "It's like old times."

And it was, really, they'd beaten the bad guy, saved the day, rescued their friends and life was returning to as normal as it got nowadays…

"Stoatshead Hill!"

They touched the rubber tyre and vanished.

* * *

They arrived at Stoatshead Hill to find a rather harassed Mrs Weasley waiting for them. "Mrs Weasley?" Yugi asked, "What're you doing here?"

"Oh thank goodness!" She looked relived and had hugged Yugi, Yami and Joey before the boys had known what had hit them. "I was so worried and you were taking so long…" She paused, "Now, who're your friends?"

"I'm Tea." Tea bowed, still not quite having broken that habit, and knowing that this woman was important to her friends, "I'm a squib. I'm studying dance in America."

"I'm Tristan." He bowed too, "I've been working around the Duelling Circuit while my brothers have been in school."

"Brothers? I thought…" Mrs Weasley looked confused.

"We've been friends so long that we're more family then friends." Yugi said with a grin. He'd missed having the gang together, not that he didn't consider Kari, Ombre, Harry, Ron and Hermione family as well, but… he had missed his 'brother' and 'sister'.

Mrs Weasley looked the group over, nodding at the explanation, "You might have to sleep in the field, I don't know if we have enough room for all of you."

"We brought our tent." Yami said, smiling at her. He liked Mrs Weasley, and she'd always been friendly to them in return. "But Tea and Tristan will be flying out tomorrow so there won't be as many of us."

"Ok, that should be fine then. I will apologise in advance for the mess." She said as she led them back towards The Burrow, "I haven't had the chance to clean up."

"It's alright, you should see Yugi's room." Tea teased her friend, but Yugi didn't rise to it, hoping that once they were set up in the field, they could catch up on the missed sleep.

Joey poked Tristan, trying to get a rise out of him as they walked along. It was odd for the group to be this quiet and he'd had enough of it over the last few weeks, but then Yugi and Mrs Weasley were talking enough for the six of them.

He could understand why Yugi was distracting her from asking too many questions, he wondered if the reports of people riding dragons and attacking Death Eaters had made the newspaper and if it had, how long before Mrs Weasley mentioned it, and if she did there'd be a lot more explanations necessary then they really wanted to give, even to Ron's Mother.

Tristan finally reacted, but not in the way Joey expected. He sighed and caught Joey's hand. "Stop that."

Yami smirked slightly at Joey's surprised look and Tea grinned broadly, "You know," She said as Yugi looked back over his shoulder at Tristan's statement, "I think that hanging around with children has made you worse then ever, Joey."

"Has not." Joey retorted, then cringed as he realised how immature that sounded.

"Poor ickle Joey." The group laughed, and Joey scowled for a moment and then shrugged, at least he'd gotten them out of their thoughts and into the world around them again.

His gaze fell back to the one bringing up the rear of their group. Yami had been hanging back a lot since they'd gotten the Pharaoh back into his own body, through Joey could appreciate why he was sulking, considering that Yami had been a 21 year old at the start of the Summer.

Actually, Yami wasn't sulking… for a change… he was too busy appreciating having his family around when the world didn't have to be saved for a change, basking in the flow of friendly conversation and familiar auras.

Especially the bright sunspot that had been missing for so long.

Yami couldn't remember why they'd agreed to come to Hogwarts in the first place, at the time it had seemed so incredibly important that they go, and they'd done it without really thinking about it, but they'd just up and left Tea and Tristan, who, while they probably now relished the relative normalness of not having to help save the world every five seconds, had made it perfectly clear that they were to get in contact more often this year or they'd hunt them down and sit on them.

That didn't stop him almost jumping out of his skin when the much taller Joey decided that Yami was brooding, and had to be given a noogie.

The Pharaoh's yelp completely distracted Yugi from his conversation, as the hikari wheeled around almost instantly. _"Do you deserve this?"_ Yugi asked his other half, _"Or should I jump on him?"_

"Help?" Yami croaked out, trying to duck out of Joey's hold.

The small Bludger that tackled Joey caught him by surprise and the three boys fell in a confused pile that quickly fell victim to uncontrolled laughter.

"Do they…?" Mrs Weasley looked at Tea.

"All the time." Tea sighed as Tristan joined the pile up. "Boys!" She sighed.

"You missed us really." Yugi managed to somehow scramble out from the bottom of the pile, only to find himself grabbed by Tristan before he could find a way to help Yami.

Watching the boys roll down the hill, Mrs Weasley chuckled, "Well at least they're heading in the right direction."

"I think I need to get myself some girl friends." Tea sighed.

"Well Ginny will be pleased to have another Witch in the house."

"Short red head with a stutter?" Tea asked, "And an excited squeal?"

Mrs Weasley gave her an odd look, "Squeal?"

"Let me guess, she's crushing on the 'Boy who Lived'."

"I don't believe so, more like her worship. Harry did save her life."

"So did Yugi from what I hear and she's not fan-girling over him."

"Fan girling?"

Tea's eyes narrowed, "Wait a minute, wasn't she making googlely eyes with Mokuba Kaiba?"

"They're in the same year at school and they study together with a group of friends." Mrs Weasley explained.

The rolling ball of boys ended with a splash and a panicked "Eep!" before Joey and Tristan dragged the frantic Yami out of the large puddle.

"Swimming lessons." Yugi said sternly, giving his dark the best glare he could manage while standing up to his knees in water and wearing soaking wet, muddy clothes.

Mrs Weasley chuckled again, "Boys." She said, shaking her head before pulling out her wand and enchanting, "Scorgify."

Now Yugi was in clean clothes… up to his knees… he wandered back over to the ladies who both looked torn between amusement and feeling resigned. He gave them a small, infectious smile, that passed among the group easily.

This was what they'd been missing this Summer, Tea realised, they were close, closer then most families, but it had been Yugi that had brought them together and it was Yugi that was still the glue of the group. It just hadn't felt right without him…

And now she wasn't looking forward to going back to America…

"You ok, Tea?" Yugi asked, noticing the sad look that crossed her features for a moment.

"I'm ok." Tea assured him, stoutly refusing to use the word 'fine', which in their group had become a byword for 'not fine' or 'badly injured', she sighed at the look Yugi gave her, she'd never been much good at lying to him, "I'm going to miss you guys."

"I'll make sure they write." Yami promised.

"And who's going to make sure you do?" Tea asked scathingly, though she didn't mean to. Yami knew it though, he wasn't looking forward to splitting up either. Even though he'd still have Yugi and Joey with him, it just wasn't the same.

"I will." Yugi said teasingly, determined to get them all relaxed again. He hated saying goodbye. He especially didn't understand how he'd done it so easily the first time, just gone without a trace… but he was determined that this last day with his family was going to be fun… so he pounced on Joey's back for no particular reason, other then it got Joey going again and made Tristan and Yami laugh as he somehow, and Yugi wasn't sure how since Joey was a lot bigger then him, managed to pin the taller, stronger man.

"I've been teaching you too well." Joey complained as he managed to shrug Yugi off. "Remind me to hold back some of my best moves."

"I thought you'd taught him all of them." Yami said, quickly moving away before Joey could grab him again.

It didn't work, as a stealthy trip from Tea sent Yami falling into the puddle again. They laughed and Yami mock-glared at them all.

Tea poked out her tongue.

Joey made the wise decision to stay well away from a scheming Tea and walked on ahead, refusing to look at them after that.

This of course, meant that Yugi and Yami gave each other the wickedest look anyone had ever seen from the pair... and they would have pounced on him again had they not come into sight of the strangest house they'd ever seen.

"Woah…" Was Tristan's articulate reaction.

"And this is the Burrow. It's not much, but it's home."

"It looks great." Joey assured her, wondering how much magic had been used in the extensions and if they could get the flat above the Kame Game Shop extended the same way.

"Huh, it looks… homey." Was Tea's response.

Yami was viewing it with an uncertain look, "It reminds me of something…"

"It's a bit like the Puzzle, a mish mash of everything." Yugi said cheerfully. "Hide and go shriek must have been so fun."

Tea looked for a moment like she was going to ask and then thought better of it.

"Hey guys!" Harry and Ron were leant on the gate, waving at them. The two paused, "Why is Yami covered in mud?"

"Someone decided I looked better this way." Yami raised an eyebrow at Tea.

"He fell in a puddle." Tea said innocently.

"I had help." Yami was only half joking as he growled at her.

"Where's Hermione?"

"Reading in a tree somewhere." Ron shrugged.

"Why am I not surprised?" Joey rolled his eyes, "She's worse then Kari."

"Are all girls workaholics? Or just the ones we know?"

"All of them are." Tristan said sagely, "But most of them like to pretend they're not."

"What about the ones that do nothing but look gorgeous all day?" Joey asked.

"Have you ever thought how much work it takes to look like that all day?" Tristan asked.

"No."

"No wonder you've only ever dated Kari."

Yami could just imagine the slap Tristan would get for that one. He didn't need to imagine the deeply insulted look Joey carried and the twat around the head that followed.

"You did ask for that." Yugi said, with a small frown.

Tristan smirked, "At least I don't have any trouble getting it with the ladies."

"I'd like to point out that the ladies that we've been around recently are either taken or very much underage." Yugi said looking insulted.

Harry, of all people, diverted the coming argument, "So what did you guys think of Quidditch."

Tea noticed the sour looks on most of her boys and quickly took up the challenge, "I don't know, it's not as exciting as Duel Monsters."

"That's because you've never been up there playing it!" Yugi said, distracted, "Duel Monsters is the best game in the world, but Quidditch come close second!"

"Close second?" Ron spluttered, "I'll have you know more people have died in Quidditch than any other sport except for Dragon Tickling!"

Tea gave him a steady look and said, "Golf."

Ron just looked confused at that, while Yugi was nodding, "She's right you know."

"Duel Monsters isn't normally fatal." Yami pitched in, sensing Yugi's relief at a subject change.

"That's not how we hear it." Ron said, "But what's golf?"

"What I want to know is who in the world would do something as stupid as Dragon Tickling?" Tristan wondered out loud.

"I bet it wouldn't eat me." Joey crowed.

"And there's your answer."

"It's not normally the eating that's the problem, it's the uncontrolled flaming."

Tristan laughed, "Crispy Joey."

"We didn't risk our lives to save yours to get yourselves killed doing something stupid." Yami mock glared, Yugi backing him up.

Ron grinned, "Alright then, crispy Kaiba."

"That I could live with."

"You'd be surprised at the amount of people who think that magic makes them invincible." Hermione's voice came out of thin air.

"Ha, we've learnt better then that, right Yuge?" Joey asked, ignoring the earlier comment.

"Hi Hermione." Harry called out, waving in an odd, up facing manner, causing the others to look.

She was perched in an apple tree, with 'Studies of the Ancient World', dropping down gracefully, "Hi guys." She looked at the new arrivals, "You get your stuff packed away alright?"

"Ummm, Hermione, are you aware you're…"

"Upside down? Yeap." She sounded quite cheerful about it too.

"Is this a new habit you've picked up recently?"

"Well I had to do something to keep my mind off you lunatics." She said, "Besides, it's an old habit but I can't do this at Hogwarts, I think the Whomping Willow would have a fit."

"There's that cherry blossom tree by the lake side that has sturdy branches." Yugi said, "Good for climbing too."

"Plus there's all the weird and wonderful deadly creatures in the forest that's just watching for a bookworm for lunch."

"The acromantulas might eat you, but I don't see the centaurs think a human is particularly tasty." Yami said quite reasonably.

"Acro… what?"

"Giant spiders."

"How do you know about those?"

"Yugi's memories of you mentioning them." Yami's tone very much gave the impression of him saying, 'duh'.

"Oh yeah." Ron said slowly, "Remind me never to tell Yugi anything I don't want getting back to Yami." He then whispered to Harry.

"Or telling Yami anything you don't want Yugi to know." Harry whispered back.

"Guys!" Yugi protested, "I heard that! The only reason I gave Yami that memory was because I was trying to let him catch up on everything."

"We don't normally swap memories unless it's really important." Yami agreed with his hikari.

Harry and Ron shared a look and nodded.

"Boys!" Tea sighed explosively and looked up at Hermione, "Mind if I join you?"

"I have a couple of spare books…"

"…More like twenty…"

"Shut up Ron, I couldn't have twenty books in a tree with me, that would be stupid."

Tea decided to ignore the bickering and in a couple of moments, she'd vanished into the tree branches.

"I didn't know she could climb like that." Joey looked suitably impressed.

"That's because she's normally wearing a skirt and would punch you for looking." Tristan said wisely.

After several moments, snippets of the mysterious language known as 'girl talk' drifted down, interspaced with what sounded like giggles.

Yugi just shook his head, he could speak many languages… for some reason… but 'girl talk' wasn't one of them, and climbed over the fence. "Where can we put the tent? It's heavy."

"Pick a field, any field." Ron said, "Except that one over there, otherwise you'll have the twins waking you up by playing Quidditch at six in the morning."

"Yeah, that's not a good idea. Yami and mornings?" Joey shuddered, earning himself a shove from his friend. "What? It's true!"

Yami glared at him.

"Don't fight now, I'm too tired." Yugi complained.

"You were in the news this morning." Ron said with a frown of his own. "So much for keeping your heads down. The dragons had a front page pic."

"Oops." Yugi looked properly apologetic to the others, but they shrugged.

"Nothing we can do about it now." Joey said, unconcerned, "Do they know who was riding them?"

"It's not hard to work out at least one of the riders." Harry said, "After all he was riding a Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"If they've linked back to Kaiba," Yugi said quietly, "It wouldn't be too hard to guess Joey was up there by his Red Eyes Black Dragon, and from Joey…"

"They could easily jump to us." Yami frowned, "Since during the holidays we're not very often apart and some of the students know we were there…"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time, it certainly scared the Death Eaters." Joey sighed.

"Wanna Duel?" Ron asked suddenly.

"Right now?" Joey asked, giving him an odd look.

"I haven't played all Summer!" Ron protested, "Please, someone, anyone, I'll even play Yugi and Yami as a tag team I'm that desperate."

"Who would you pick as your tag team partner?" Yami asked, amused.

"Harry or Joey." Ron said without thinking, "Though I might steal Yugi and you could have Joey or Harry."

"Hey!" Harry glowered and Ron ducked the twat round the back of the head he thought was coming.

"I'm sorry Harry, but let's face it, would you rather have you or Yugi in a Duel to save the world?"

"Yugi." Harry sulked.

"My point exactly."

"But Yami wouldn't destroy the world." Joey pointed out.

"It's the same level of play." Ron shrugged.

Looks of disbelief were aimed at Ron from all angles.

"I don't feel like it right now." Yugi said, "Sorry Ron, I'll play you tomorrow."

"Who are you and what have you done with Yugi?" Ron demanded. "The real Yugi never says no to a Duel."

"It's an imposter!" Joey cried, "Get him!"

Yugi had time to squeak before he was grabbed by Joey. _"Yami, help!"_ He sent down the link.

"Joey, please don't choke my hikari, I like him alive thank you." Yami deadpanned, making everyone stare for a moment and then laugh.

"So why don't you wanna Duel today?" Joey asked while he still had the hikari pinned.

"I just don't." Yugi shrugged, then realised that answer wouldn't get him out of the headlock, "I'm just tired and my brain feels like mush. Even Weevil could beat me right now."

"Yuge, Weevil couldn't beat you if you were in a coma."

"Don't even joke." Yami growled.

The only one who didn't freeze and/or wince in remembered memory was Ron, who, while he knew about the Dementors attacking, didn't know the full story.

Joey came under bombardment from above as apples rained down from the tree, causing him to yelp and move, with his captive, away from the apple tree.

This didn't help much, but had broken the mood that had been threatening to settle and it wasn't long before the boys were fighting again, ending with them in a pile in the middle of the Quidditch field, with the two smallest on the bottom and Joey attempting to untangle himself so he could get up first, having somehow lost his grip on his friend during the brawl and ending up on top of the pile.

In order, the boys managed to pick themselves up. Joey first, disentangling his belt buckle from Tristan's pocket, who then had to escape Yugi's grasp, who then managed to scramble out of Ron's way, who then removed himself from the pile, wincing as he stretched his arm, then Harry and finally Yami.

Yugi sat down with a grin, "Ok, we have got to do this more often?"

"What fighting? We pretty much haven't stopped since we were cleared of all charges." Joey only half complained.

"Hanging out during the holidays." Yugi gave his friend his best glare, which didn't intimidate Joey in the slightest.

"Come to more Tournaments." Tristan said, "I bet I could get them to put me on duty if you do."

"On duty?" Ron asked.

Tristan found himself explaining as they moved into the next field and set the tent up again.

They were joined by the two girls as the last tent pegs went in, the shabby looking white tent that was going a sandy colour from the amount of time it spent in winds full of the stuff, made the gang grin for a moment, then the grins faded.

"I have to pack." Tea said sadly.

"Me too." Tristan sounded like he was complaining.

"We'd better work out what's ours and what's not." Joey sighed, feeling drained all of a sudden.

Yugi's shoulders sank, face falling, but they had a point, they'd be splitting up tomorrow and it wasn't like anything that ended up in the wrong bag could be exchanged the next time they saw each other, since there was a high probability of it being at least a year…

Yami saw the look on his hikari's face and sighed, looking forward to tomorrow about as much as Yugi was. "Let's get it over with, then we can fight as much as we want."

This caused a round of grins and a double sigh of 'boys!' from Tea and Hermione.

Then backpacks and suitcases were unpacked from magically enlarged bags and things went flying as they tried to work out what belonged to whom.

* * *

Kari was tired, fed up and really, really didn't want to be here, in work.

She wanted to be with her friends, with her yami, not here at her desk, relaying everything she could to Seto to be dealt with now he was back in control of the Company.

The stocks had fallen, the company's business partners all wanted a meeting with Seto this instant, and no they wouldn't wait and what did he mean he had no open slots until tomorrow and… she was very glad she wasn't his PA.

"Kari!" Mokuba was at the door again, looking like he'd run down the stairs from his office, "Sorry but where did you and Noa hid those forms for the rights to that thing that we were talking about yesterday?"

Since yesterday seemed like a very long time ago and in the intervening time Seto and Mokuba had asked her about so many forms that when she closed her eyes she could SEE forms, she had no idea what the younger Kaiba was on about and replied accordingly, "Huh?"

"The ones about the thing that…"

"Mokuba you sound like your brother." Kari sighed, "Plain English… or Japanese if you don't mind."

"The ones for the new game."

"Rising Star or the new expansion pack for Monster Stories?" Kari asked, opening her drawer, where both folders were kept.

"Monster Stories." Mokuba said and the file slid across the desk to him. "You have betas all sorted?"

"I did, but they're in England now and we need the game out soon to push shares up." Kari growled, her head hitting the desk and she sighed.

Mokuba hadn't seen her like this before and was worried, but before he could say anything his mobile went off. "Gotta go, Seto demands the file." Mokuba rolled his eyes and raced off.

" _I don't want to be here."_ Kari realised, _"And it's not just that I want to be with my friends. I don't want to be here anymore, but I can't leave, I'm needed here…"_

' _Kari? Are you alright?'_

Kari's head shot up and a sad smile crossed her face. She'd missed the sound of Ombre's voice, she couldn't even remember the last time they'd had a proper mind to mind talk before Ombre's disappearance and she'd missed it. _"I'm ok, honest, you must be pretty close to be in range while I'm in my office."_

' _I originally came to bring food, since it looks like you're going to have to pull an all nighter but Mokuba's got me running errands since Seto's fired most of his message runners.'_

Kari giggled, _"Poor Ombre."_

' _Finally!'_ Ombre sounded exasperated, _'A message for your floor. Wanna go for lunch?'_

" _Can't gotta finish the last eighty things before school kicks off again."_

' _Kari…'_

" _I can't just leave the company in limbo, it was falling apart Ombre, the company nearly went bust, everyone nearly lost their jobs… I didn't want to stay, I wanted to go find you, but I couldn't, I knew I could help here, I didn't know what to do, how to save everyone…"_ Kari's voice was so quiet that Ombre nearly missed the last thought, _"I'm not Yugi…"_

' _Not even Yugi can save everyone, hikari.'_ Ombre tried to reassure her other half, _'You did everything you could.'_

" _It wasn't enough!"_ Kari sounded frustrated, _"I was scared and there was nothing I could do as everything crashed down around me, the company going down in flames, you missing, Yugi or Yami's soul eaten by Dementors…"_ Tears flowed, though there was no one to see them, _"I'm supposed to be a light, but I couldn't do anything about the darkness, I never can! I can't help my friends, I can't save my family…"_

' _Kari…'_

Somehow the thought that Yugi couldn't actually save everyone was scarier then everything else Kari had faced, as she stumbled into her private bathroom, leaning over the sink, eyes closed, just trying to will the tears away before Ombre came into the office.

" _I'm weak and worthless. What sort of person am I? That I chose my job over the other half of my soul?"_

Ombre didn't reply for a moment and for a second Kari feared she'd made the dark mad and that she'd left. Then there was a reassuring hand on her shoulder and a familiar aura at her side.

Before she'd even thought about it, Kari had embraced her dark, sobbing into her top.

"Easy hikari." Ombre murmured, "It's ok."

"It's not."

Kari was shaking and Ombre found herself concerned, "Kari, when's the last time you ate or slept properly?"

"I don't know what those are anymore." Kari mumbled.

That statement made Ombre back off and look at Kari properly. "Hikari, when did you start drawing off the shadows?" Ombre gasped. Now she was looking she could see the shadow magic weaving around her hikari.

"Don't know." Kari said, "I stopped sleeping properly weeks ago, I'm not sure when eating went with it…"

"You're coming home and resting." Ombre growled, "You've exhausted your own magic and you're making yourself vulnerable to the Shadows like this."

"I can't Ombre, there's too much to do." Kari glared at the Princess.

"I will talk to Mokuba." Ombre threatened.

"Seto won't send me home." Kari didn't back down in the slightest.

"You can't keep working like this." Ombre said sternly, "You're killing yourself."

* * *

"Bye guys." Tea hugged them all, before passing through the departure gates at Heathrow Airport.

They'd arrived via Portkey three hours early for Tea's flight, and had tried to prepare for the goodbye, but it still felt like someone had ripped a limb from each of them as the brunette vanished from sight.

"We've got to get together again soon." Joey said quietly, filling the sadness. "It's been way too long and the longer it is, the harder it's going to be to say goodbye next time."

"I honestly can't believe you three went in the first place." Tristan said, "You didn't even need to think about it too much."

"We kind of surprised ourselves too." Joey said sourly, "I guess we kinda thought we'd see you a lot more then we have."

"The world's still be turning Joey." Tristan shrugged, "We had our own paths to follow."

"Still…"

"The important thing is that we don't nearly fall out of contact again." Yugi said firmly, "Even if I have to send out a letter a day to make sure of it."

"You can't afford that many post owls." Yami said, "But you have a point."

Tristan frowned, scanning the crowd as he often did nowadays, always alert and wary when he was around his… well, family, he supposed… too many years of Yugi being the target of bad guys, of Joey having to watch his back, in case of the return of Hirutani (and hadn't that been fun?), of having to make sure that his friends weren't stabbed in the back (figuratively and on occasion literally) or that they didn't get themselves killed, and what made it worse, was that he knew he'd be no more use against the new bad guys then he was the old.

It had been bad when the fighting had always been duels to the death, in a game he couldn't play no matter how hard he tried, at least then he'd been on hand to offer support. Now he wasn't even around to do that and the Bad Guys weren't playing games, they were fighting to the death, with no qualms about how they got what they wanted.

These enemies didn't have the incredibly important rule that Yugi's enemies had always had before.

To get what they wanted, they had always had to play fair, and to a certain extent they had even when it didn't seem like they were.

There had always been a way out.

The Death Eaters didn't have to play the rules or give escape clauses and Tristan couldn't help wondering if his friends had made that distinction yet.

"Food?" Joey asked hopefully.

"Airport food." Yami said distastefully.

Joey's eager look died for a moment, then he shrugged, "Better then no food at all."

Yugi's stomach rumbled and that decided the matter.

They headed into the McDonalds.

* * *

The three who were returning to Hogwarts watched as Tristan's flight left, or at least they thought it was that one.

"So, it's just us." Joey sighed.

"And Harry, and Ron, and Hermione, and soon Kari and Ombre too." Yami said wistfully.

"Yeah." Yugi murmured, sighing. "What've we got? A week?"

"Yeap."

"I bet I can get at least six letters in in that space of time." Yugi said with a grin.

"Thinking of letters, letter to Serenity." Yami poked Joey.

"Come on guys, let's get back." Yugi said, looking at his watch, "It's gone six and Mrs Weasley promised us tea when we got back."

"You have it?" Yami asked Joey, who nodded, looking around. "Ok."

They found a quiet place to hide and use the Portkey, arriving back at the Burrow just in time to see Mrs Weasley screeching at the twins who had done something or other that she didn't think was funny.

"That didn't take long." Ron complained as he went with them out to the tent, "Mum's been shouting at them most of the day about one thing or another."

"Anything else in the newspaper?" Yami asked.

"A couple of complaints about the Ministry, another mention of Dad and the dragons, nothing new." Ron shrugged, "Hermione's been hiding in a tree again, and my sane brothers had to go back to work."

"Poor Ron, where's Harry?"

"Got roped into helping Mum with tea." Ron felt sorry for his friend btu didn't show it.

"And it smells gorgeous." Yami said with a grin, "Food?"

"Food." Everyone agrees.


	4. Choo Choo

"Kari, Ombre!" Yami stuck his head out of the window and waved to them, "This one!"

The two girls, Seto and Mokuba boarded the carriage and while Seto headed past their compartment in an attempt to find another empty one, Mokuba, Kari and Ombre all crammed into the already crowded compartment.

Yami stopped Ombre at the door, pulling her down the corridor giving a worried glance to their compartment. "Ombre, Kari's drawing from the Shadows."

"I know." The Princess was just as worried, if not more so, than the Pharaoh. "I'm working on that."

"What happened?"

"She was trying to be Yugi." Ombre said with an unhappy frown, and slipped into the compartment before Yami could say anything else.

Yami shook his head and entered the compartment, where Harry, Ron and Hermione had budged up to let Ombre and Mokuba sit down, Yugi and Kari were talking, while Joey, who was squashed against the wall, nodded to the teen who'd just come in.

"Move aside Yami." Kaiba growled, making Yami jump as Kaiba was stood right behind him, "There's no more room."

The Pharaoh let Kaiba sit down, then Kari slumped into the seat next to him, drifting off easily and asleep within seconds. Yugi took up the last of the room on the seat and Yami found himself left with perching on the table, or leaning against the door frame.

He took a slightly different option; he sat on the floor by the door and leant against the partition.

Silence fell, but it wasn't a natural silence, it was the silence of must not disturb 'Kaiba or he will eat your soul'!

To be fair this wasn't helped by the fact Kaiba still had a ridiculous amount of work to do, but had managed to organise it around his school timetable, which he'd gotten his Head of House to send him in advance, plus the help from 'he who must not be spoken of', and maybe Kaiba Corp might actually survive another year.

It had certainly been in a precarious situation when Seto had returned to work even with everything Kari and 'her associate' had done to preserve the company, there was just too much that Kaiba himself had to deal with.

So while the gang wanted to talk, they were just as content to just enjoy each others company… in complete silence…

"Will you stop fidgeting?" Kaiba finally, quietly, snapped at Ron. "Just talk already, if you're that desperate, but keep it down."

Ron was in fact wondering how Kari was getting away with having her head on Seto's shoulder. It had happened quite by accident, but Kaiba didn't seem to be saying or doing anything about it and no one dared asked about it.

"I had to threaten her with a temporary suspension before she'd leave work." Kaiba said without looking up from his laptop, "So I'm leaving her to sleep until we need to get changed."

"We weren't going to wake her." Yugi assured him.

"Good." Kaiba said and went back to his work.

Yami just shook his head, amused by the CEO's reaction to everything. He'd half expected Kaiba to refuse to come back this year with the state of play being how it had been a couple of weeks ago.

A low murmur of conversation ran around the compartment, ranging from Duel Monsters. To the Quidditch finals until Hermione couldn't contain her curiosity any longer and blurted, "Seto, I thought only a Kaiba could run Kaiba Corp."

"That's right."

"So how did Kari keep the company afloat?"

"Someone was keeping a secret from me." Seto said, fixing his little brother with a stern look. "He had a data file backed up from a few years ago that passed himself off as the CEO for a while."

"Noa?" Joey asked, too loudly and earned himself a half a second glare from Kaiba before the CEO returned to his work, "Sorry," He whispered, "You had a backup of Noa?" He asked Mokuba.

Mokuba nodded, "With time instructions on the file, Noa was living in another virtual world and I had it set up so that instructions would go out to all the Department Heads if I didn't sign into Noa's program within a certain amount of time. Kari was already doing her best to keep the company afloat, but she couldn't do a lot of things without a Kaiba."

"And that's where Noa came in." Kaiba said, "Although getting him to give up the reins was…interesting."

"I can imagine." Yami said, remembering the child who'd tried to steal Yugi's body, even after they'd won the duel. He'd failed though, because there'd been too many minds in one body and he'd ended up seeing some of the history of the Puzzle instead.

"But he doesn't have his own body…" Joey commented.

Mokuba glared lightly, "He is my brother too you know."

"Never said he wasn't." Joey would have backed up but he was squashed against the wall already. "I just wondered how he could do things like signing papers and things."

"Most machinery is controlled by computer now Joey, it was easy enough to set Noa up with an arm." Mokuba said.

"What about meetings?" Ron asked, interested.

"They came up with the excuse that he could only do conference calls as he was in a hospital retreat for his health and safety." Kaiba looked amused. "Some idiots fell for it too."

"That could have something to do with the amount of conference calls you have to make, big brother." Mokuba tutted at his older sibling. He shook his head, amused by the fact that Seto flipped him off, "We spoke to Professor Dumbledore too. As long as Seto schedules them outside of class time, he'll even provide the Portkeys to and from the office to hold meetings."

"Why?" Yugi wondered, the thought bouncing around his mind. "He didn't seem that interested in helping when he came to America."

"Doesn't want to lose students?" Yami hazarded.

"He held the power in America, I hold the power currently." Seto levelled a look at Yami, who gazed back with a thoughtful expression, "We needed him more then he needed us then, the tables have turned."

"Why us?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kaiba snorted, "The 'Boy-Who-Lived' and the wielders of the most dangerous magic known to man? Of course he wants us on his side."

"So why not do us a favour?"

"We weren't sticking to his little 'game plan'." Yami said, thinking things over, now that Seto had brought them up in this light, "We were supposed to go home and act as normal as we get over the Summer and come back ready and willing to learn and follow his plan. Instead…"

"Instead things happened that changed his precious plans." Joey sounded more then slightly annoyed by this. "So what, leaving us in jail was a 'this is your punishment for being awkward'?"

"He probably didn't think about it like that." Hermione said in defence of the Professor.

"He wasn't thinking. He was just reacting. I refused to go along with his game plan." Harry said carefully.

"And considering how much power Dumbledore has, very few people ever say no to him." Yugi reasoned, mind kicking in and thoughts tumbling into place with the information he had, "Let me guess. He wanted you back at the Dursleys."

Harry nodded, with an grimace, "I'm not going back there, a jail cell is better. No matter how much Dumbledore tries to guilt trip me."

"I thought your room was a jail cell." Ron growled, remembering breaking his friend out. "You can't stay there. It's not right."

"Right and wrong seem to have an odd meaning to the Headmaster." Ombre said.

"Remind me why we're coming back." Joey sighed explosively.

"We need wand magic lessons and we can't afford tutors."

"We go, we attend lessons, we ignore Dumbledore's… oddities, we leave." Kaiba said dismissingly.

The whole group nodded in agreement, though Hermione didn't look happy, not used to not being able to trust those in positions of responsibility.

Yugi smiled grimly, they might be heading into dangerous territory, but at least Kaiba was **_FINALLY_** thinking himself as one of the gang.

"Sweets anyone?" The gang jumped as the sweet trolley came around, causing a round of hands in pockets and the disappearance of a table under a mountain of sweets.

Ron complained loudly about the fact the gold he'd collected from the Quidditch had disappeared, successfully waking Kari up and causing Kaiba, Yami, Ombre and Joey to glare at him, making him sulk, but shut up.

Yugi hated it when Ron complained about having no money, the Mutos were worse off then the Weasleys were. After bills and tax and rent and everything else that came out of the Kame Game Shop's profits, there wasn't much left for other things. In fact they only had enough money for them to keep coming to school thanks to Sirius, after they'd only made one tournament this summer, if anything Yugi and Yami's piles of sweets had been much smaller then Ron's.

But then Ron probably had no idea how much money was going in and out of his house, unlike the Mutos, where they had an excellent grasp of money matters.

Kari was awake long enough to eat a couple of chocolate frogs and get changed, before going back to sleep, much to the relief of her dark half, who got up, offered Yami her seat and went wandering down the train.

Yami watched her go, still confused over her, 'she was trying to be Yugi,' comment from earlier.

" _Yami?"_ Yugi asked, mind to mind, sensing his dark's confusion, _"You alright?"_

' _Fine.'_ Yami winced, _'Not the word I meant to use. I'm just tired and confused about everything.'_

" _Yami, what're the odds that Dumbledore knows about all the powers of the Millennium Items?"_

' _I don't think he can do, after all, the only one who should know all the powers of the Puzzle is me and well…'_ Yami shrugged. _'I think we probably have some tricks up our sleeves that he's unaware of.'_

" _Good."_ Yami was surprised by Yugi's thought, but then perhaps he shouldn't be, neither of them liked it when the enemy knew more then they did.

' _Wait…'_ Yami thought, deliberately keeping that line of thought from Yugi, _'Did I really just compare Professor Dumbledore to Marik or Pegasus?'_

"I'm going to get some fresh air." Yami said, standing up and exiting the compartment before anyone could say anything.

' _Manipulative as he is, he's not sunken that low.'_ Yami thought, resting his head on the wall down the corridor from the compartment.

"Hey Yami." Ombre leant against the wall next to him, "Too many people?"

"Too many thoughts." The Pharaoh replied, "Some of them not as useful as others."

"You knew we were walking back into Dumbledore's plans, didn't you?"

"Until Kaiba brought it up, I hadn't even thought about it." The statement alone was enough to make Ombre frown.

Yami and Yugi had set ways of reacting, but both of them often saw the… 'moves' as it were… of people ahead of time, knowing how they were going to react to something or when to react to something. For the Mutos not to have realised that Dumbledore was manipulating them spoke either highly of Dumbledore's skills of manipulation, or highly of someone's ability to play with their minds without activating the Millennium's items' protections.

"So what is the plan?"

"We'll follow Kaiba's." Yami shrugged, "We need the lessons, or at least the hikaris do, if the worst comes to the worst, I can think of at least one way to get us out of there."

"The tunnel to Hogsmead." Ombre nodded, then she sighed. "What of our family? What happens if Sirius dies? Do we have to watch as Harry gets thrown back to the Dursleys?"

"I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I can't see why they're so important Dumbledore's scheme." Yami frowned.

"Something's wrong with this whole set up. There has to be something that we've missed in this whole thing. Harry was eleven when Voldemort returned and attacked, Yugi didn't face his first magical enemy until he was fourteen." Ombre said, "If Dumbledore's so powerful, why hasn't he faced Voldemort yet? Why does he keep leaving it to Harry?"

"Destiny?" Yami hazarded, "But even so Harry is ill prepared and each time we've escaped it's been more luck then judgement."

"I think Harry needs training."

Yami paused, "Joey's got him in on the fighting lessons with Yugi, what he needs is more magic lessons, but I don't think we can teach him much of our magic. Harry's not linked to the past like Kaiba or Joey."

"There's tactics, and battle situations, and general training."

"I'd be happy to teach Harry tactics and battle situations so at least he has a firm grip on those." Yami said thoughtfully, "So he has more to rely on then just unarmed combat, which is what he's learning from Joey."

"We could all do with being fitter if there's going to be trouble. Morning runs?"

Yami groaned, he hated mornings, but nodded, "Pre-breakfast." Then he smirked, "But you can tell them."

"That's not fair." Ombre protested.

"Your suggestion."

"Rock, paper, scissors?"

"You'll lose."

"No I won't."

"Fine."

"Rock, paper, scissors…"

* * *

' _Stupid Princesses and their stupi…'_

" _You alright?"_ Yugi tried not to laugh at Yami's grumbling as the Pharaoh re-entered the compartment.

"We came up with an idea." Yami said out loud, "But it means we'd have to get up a lot earlier then we are at the moment."

There were groans from most of the group, but Seto looked up from his laptop long enough to ask, "Morning combat training?"

"We were thinking morning runs." Ombre said, "Not full training sessions."

"I wouldn't mind a sparring partner, if you're up for it Rich-boy." Joey said, though the nickname held none of the old venom. "I wouldn't say no to a few lessons n martial arts. Street fighting's all well and good, as long as you're not up against a trained opponent who is expecting you."

"Why physical combat training?" Hermione asked.

Seto snorted, "I'm surprised you haven't noticed, wizards don't seem to be much good at physical combat, they expect everything to be able to fight with wands alone. This gives Wizarding flaw actually gives Muggle borns and those willing to learn an advantage as it's a tactic the enemy wouldn't expect."

"So we get up, go for a run, practise some fighting, get changed, go for breakfast?" Ron asked.

"Sounds like a plan." Joey nodded.

"All in favour?"

Everyone's hands…well the hands of those who were awake… went up.

"Plan passed." Ombre looked amused.

"Shouldn't we ask Kari as well?" Hermione asked.

"Kari can't be physically trained until she eats and sleeps better." Ombre said, "But she should… hopefully… be able to sort herself out over the next couple of months." _'Away from Kaiba's company.'_ She thought the last part quietly.

"I dunno Ombre, she's worse then Hermione when it comes to studying instead of sleeping." Joey snorted.

"She has to get herself sorted." Yami said firmly, making Joey realised something more then the obvious was wrong with his ex-girlfriend, "It's dangerous for her to continue the way she's been going."

"According to her PA, she was a lot worse before the Quidditch World Cup. At least now she's pausing for food." Ombre sighed, "When I remind her about it."

"Hey guys, has any of you seen a toad?" Neville Longbottom poked his head round the door, grinning at them and distracting them from their conversation.

"Don't tell me you've lost Trevor already!" Yugi laughed quietly, glancing to make sure he didn't wake Kari up, "Term hasn't even started yet!"

"He got away from me when I bumped into Draco Malfoy on the train." Neville complained, "I don't know what they were up too but…"

"Are you alright?" Yami asked, rising to his feet, concerned.

"Yeah, it was weird, he didn't say anything, just glared and stormed off." Neville shrugged, "Anyway, I take it you haven't seen Trevor."

"We'll keep an eye out." Ron promised and Neville left. "He needs a leash for that toad."

"A leash? For a toad?" Joey just stared at him.

"Yeah."

"A leash? For a toad?"

"Someone hit him." Ron complained.

Seto quite happily complied.

"Ow! Damn it Kaiba!"

"Just passing on a message."

Hermione on the other hand was thinking, "You know… it should be very easy to make a magical leash."

There was a round of stares.

"What? It would with the right spells." Hermione said, smirking at them. "You all need to read more."

"Wouldn't a tracking or summoning spell work better?" Kari murmured, still half asleep.

Yugi giggled, "Why not construct a magical ball for Trevor to roll around in, like those hamsters?"

"That would be funny." Joey agreed.

Ombre saw the look that was beginning to grace Kari's face and groaned. "Oh no, hikari, no more projects until you're better."

"But Ombre…!"

"Ohhh, does that mean I get this project?" Hermione asked, pulling out a pencil and notepad from somewhere.

"Ok, how come you get hammer space Duel Disks and Hermione gets hammer space home work equipment, but I don't get any hammer space storage?" Harry complained.

"What's hammer space?" Ron asked, confused.

"He means pockets Ron." Hermione sighed at the boys.

"You cannot fit a Duel Disk in a pocket!" Harry protested.

"You can once you've used a shrinking spell." Yami said.

Harry blinked. "Ohh…"

"Plus the fact that Kaiba Corp technology allows the Duel Disk to fold away to a small, easily transportable size." Yugi giggled and rolled his eyes at the same time. "Come on Yami, time to get changed." He said, poking his other self.

"It's no lighter though." Yami grinned and followed Yugi out.

* * *

It was horrible out when they departed, raining so heavily that they were absolutely soaked before they reached the carriages.

"Hi Hagrid!" Harry yelled, waving to him as his friends bundled him over to the carriages, the huge man waved back as he directed the first years to the boats.

"I wouldn't like to be them." Hermione shivered once they were safely on their way.

It didn't take long, and once they were inside, the gang regrouped, safe in the knowledge that they couldn't possibly get any wetter then they already were…

Until Ombre, Harry and Yugi were hit by water balloons.

The Princess glared up at their attacker, who was floating close to the ceiling and laughing so hard he could barely continue to throw the balloons.

"PEEVES!" Someone roared, making the group jump. Professor McGonagall was heading in their direction, and slipped on the wet floor, grabbing onto Joey to stop from falling over. "Ow. Sorry Mr Wheeler."

"It's fine Professor." Joey said, rolling his eyes at his friends as the Professor started having a go at Peeves and the poltergeist vanished after throwing the last one the water balloons, one of which hit Kari and the other vanished into the crowd.

They headed into the great hall, slipping and sliding across the passageway until they reached the doors, where Ombre had to push her soggy hair out of her eyes and Joey decided he was going to laugh himself silly at the fact Yugi's spikes were drooping, earning himself a slap round the back of the head from Kari as they took their place at the Gryffindor table.

Yami successfully managed to distract Colin Creevley, leading to a discussion about brothers and sisters ending up in the same house, leading into a discussion about the lack of a new Defence Teacher at the staff table and Yami staring up at the ceiling when something flashed overhead.

"A thunder storm." Joey commented as another bolt of lightening passed overhead. "That's insane considering what the weather's been like during the day."

"English weather." Hermione shrugged.

Yugi was watching the staff table, where there were three empty seats, he could account for two of them, and the third had to be the new DADA Teacher, but it wasn't that that was holding his attention.

It was the look their group was getting from Professor Dumbledore. _"I don't think Professor Dumbledore was expecting us back."_

Yami looked and smirked, _'He was probably expecting to have to come get us from jail.'_

" _He knew he was getting Kaiba though."_ Yugi replied, _"So wouldn't logic dictate that he'd be getting us too?"_

' _Probably didn't expect us to come back after he left us stranded, besides they could have released Kaiba and not us.'_ Yami gave Professor Dumbledore a level stare and the Professor gave him a perfectly reasonable look back. ' _At least we got here safely.'_

" _No run in with Bakura on the train this year either."_

' _He is here though, I spotted him in the crowd. He was giving Peeves water balloons.'_

Yugi rolled his eyes, _"Why doesn't that surprise me?"_

' _Professor McGonagall.'_ Yami stated, turning to look at the main entrance, where their Head of House was leading the new first years in.

" _How many for Gryffindor?"_

' _Half.'_ Yami said, confidently.

He was wrong of course, and once the sorting hat had finished singing and the 'ickle firsties' had been sorted, the food, which they'd been waiting ever so patiently for…not… appeared on the table.

The boys, as per usual, stacked their plates high and were well into the meal when Nearly Headless Nick happened to mention that they nearly hadn't had a feast tonight because Peeves had caused trouble in the kitchen and upset the House Elves.

Hermione suddenly paled and pushed away her plate.

"You knew Hogwarts had House Elves." Yami frowned, "One of them was assigned to Kisara's children."

"That was before I knew what conditions they lived under!" Hermione glared at him.

"Are they happy?" Yami asked Nick.

"When Peeves isn't irritating them."

"Then what's the problem?" Yami asked, confused.

"If course you wouldn't understand." She snapped, "You probably had plenty of slaves to do your chores."

Yami just humphed at her, deciding she was being completely unreasonable, and went back to eating.

Dumbledore stood up to speak once the puddings had been consumed mentioning Filch's ever increasing list of banned items, that the Forbidden Forest was out of bounds and only third years and above could go to Hogsmead and finally a statement that made everyone complain.

"The Quidditch Cup will not take place this year!"

"What?" Yugi and Harry gasped simultaneously. Yami sure whether he was relived or upset and looked around at his team mates who seemed just as put out, if not more so, then Yugi and Harry.

"Instead," The Headmaster continued, "There is an event being held at Hogwarts this year, starting this October, that will take a lot of staff time and energy, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts…"

Yugi grabbed Yami's arm in an attempt to stop him from getting to his feet in reaction to the loud bang that was the doors banging open. Joey was already there, wand drawn, and Harry hadn't been far behind. Both Ombre and Kari were about halfway up, wands already out, before a flash of lightening threw the man's face into sharp relief.

He looked like he'd seen more then his fair share of battles and had come out of them so scarred that he was probably unrecognisable. One of his eyes was fake and focused on the group who were between sat down and on their feet.

He reached the high table and shook hands with Professor Dumbledore, putting his hand that looked just as scarred as his face in the Headmaster's unblemished one.

It wasn't until he'd sat in the empty seat that was left that the guys settled back into their seats.

" _So we're not jumpy at all."_ Yugi sighed.

Yami didn't say anything in reply, just watched as Professor Dumbledore acted like he'd expected him to enter at that exact moment of time and turned back to his students, "May I present your new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Moody."

There was silence.

"Also, we have a Journeywitch this year, working on her masterpiece in the Forbidden Forest, but most likely she will only be seen occasionally around the castle. Her name is Mistress Golden, and you will show her the same respect you would a teacher."

"Mistress Golden?" Kari gasped, looking at her friends, "It can't be, can it?"

The others had no more clue then her, but turned back to Dumbledore in time to hear him say "…Triwizard Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year!"

"You're joking!" Fred's loud comment broke the tension that had been filling the hall as nearly everyone laughed, even Dumbledore.

Dumbledore proceeded to explain about the Tournament and its history and finally started explaining the rules, including a rather unpopular one. An age limit.

Yugi cringed as Yami cussed the American Ministry in his head again and Fred and George protested loudly.

"The delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of a year. So I expect to see model behaviour from you all and hope that you will extend every courtesy while they are with us." The man looked around, "Now, to bed all of you. I expect you all to be alert and rested for your first lessons."

They filed out and the gang stuck together, "I might go for it." Joey said, "I'm old enough and I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

"I would if I thought I knew enough." Yugi said, "But we're only fourth years, and we'd probably only be allowed to use 'Wand'" and he put heavy emphasis on the word, "Spells."

"If I was old enough, I would, but…" Yami started grumbling again.

"I might." Kari said.

"Not unless you've stopped drawing from the Shadows." Ombre glared at her.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were locked in conversation with Fred and George, something about aging potion, which, of course, caught Yami's attention.

"What is he like?"

Joey just snorted, thinking of what he could do with a thousand Galleons.

They headed straight up to their dorms, where, as per usual their stuff had been sorted out. Yugi had visions of Hermione ranting about 'this was all done by slave labour' and while he couldn't help but agree that House Elves needed better conditions and he'd always been taught that slavery was wrong, he knew that he'd have to be the one to get Yami to understand why, and that wouldn't be easy considering that even without his memories, Yami tended to have a mindset that was firmly stuck in the ancient times as regards to certain matters.

What he needed was a House Elf to talk to, before Yami and Hermione got into a heated debate over this.

Joey wasn't thinking about the debate, his head was too full of the sheer volume of cards he could buy with a thousand Galleons.

Ron was thinking about the glory, Harry was already asleep and Yami had gotten changed and was now led back on the bed, thinking.

" _Penny for your thoughts?"_ Yugi asked, mind to mind, making the Pharaoh jump.

' _If Fred and George can enter using the aging potion, I'm going to too.'_

" _Let me guess, they've asked for your help in exchange for some potion."_

' _Pretty much.'_ Yami agreed, _'Don't worry, I won't help them with anything illegal.'_

" _Good, I've had enough of jail cells."_

' _Me too.'_

Yugi rolled over and looked at his dark, as the thunder still rolled overhead, _"I don't know Yami, something feels off this year, like something's going to happen and we can't stop it."_

' _I was just thinking the same thing.'_ Yami admitted. _'The tracks' been set, and we're on the train and now we have to see where it takes us.'_

Yugi yawned, _"I might compete after all. It might be fun and I do have the two brightest witches and the brightest wizard in my year as friends."_

' _I'll support you whatever you decide._ Yami yawned back, _'Go to sleep.'_

" _You too."_ Yugi laughed at him as Kiyoshe and Kana, the cat and the pilot cat, jumped up on his and Yami's beds, sensing Yami was as sleepy as he was. It didn't take long for Yami to drop off and Yugi was only minutes behind.

The silence that fell over the dorm was disturbed only by the sound of falling rain and thunder rumbling overhead. For a long time, the lightening outside flashed and was visible through the window, until at around 4am, the storm finally blew itself out and dispelled into a clear, cold Autumn night.

Then and only then could a glow of a different kind be seen from a student's backpack.

The glow of one of the Millennium Items.

The Millennium Necklace.


	5. Revolving Door

Yugi hadn't slept well and had woken long before the others, heading out of the Common Room and down to breakfast to try to clear his head.

Last night's dreams had been foreboding and meaningful and yet he couldn't quite seem to remember what it was he'd been dreaming about.

"Yugi!" The heir jumped and wheeled around, on the defensive instantly, well until he realised that it was Ryou that had called him. "Can I talk to you?"

"Hey Ryou, you have a good summer?" Yugi asked, nodding and following the other hikari.

"As good as can be expected." Ryou shrugged, "Better then yours at least."

Yugi didn't comment, thinking about the fact Ryou didn't know the half of it. "So what's up?"

"It's the Penalty Game on Draco."

"Ryou, I…"

"I know that we're not supposed to lift it before they've learnt their lesson, but Draco's being controlled by the Millennium Ring now too and he can't come to your group for help."

"If he's controlled by the Ring then…"

"I know but…"

Yugi frowned and sat down on a bench, "I think I need an explanation."

"I want you to lift the Penalty Game on Draco because he's being tainted by the Millennium Ring and I'm not sure he has the strength to fight it." Ryou said bluntly, "I understand that you probably wouldn't want to considering that he's been causing your group problems, but he's getting around the Penalty Game as it is, he's never going to break it and while he's unable to get help the Ring's taking over."

"How can he be controlled by the Ring if you and Bakura never hand it over?" Yugi asked.

"The Ring's not like the Puzzle, it comes and goes as it pleases, not as it's owner does." Ryou frowned, "It decided for some reason that it wanted Draco as one of it's 'owners' and I didn't know until it was too late to do anything."

"That explains how it kept getting back to you." Yugi growled, startling Ryou for a moment with how much he sounded like Yami, "But what can we do to help Draco? He may not even want our help."

"Please Yugi." Ryou looked like he was pleading.

"I want to help." Yugi held up a hand, "But I don't want to put my friends in danger either."

Ryou frowned, "I can't promise Draco would stay away from Harry or the others."

"I know, that's the problem." Yugi sighed. "Ryou, if I do this and he's controlled by the Ring too firmly, we may have to 'game' him at some point. At the moment that isn't an issue since Draco can't come after any of us directly."

"You know what the items are like, if you don't get him on your side and soon, the item could get him to go through people to get to you guys."

Yugi frowned, thinking. _"Yami, you awake?"_

' _Since Ryou stopped you on the stairs.'_ Yami replied, _'I think it has to be your choice, Ryou has both good and bad points about the situation, but they are all valid points, and while I'd rather Draco wasn't able to start bullying us again, I don't think letting him get completely controlled by the Ring is a good idea either.'_

" _So… how do I go about lifting a Penalty Game?"_

' _Ummm.'_

"Yugi?"

"I'll do it Ryou, but I'm not sure how."

"What did Yami say?"

"I…"

"It was obvious."

"That he'd rather not have a Shadow controlled Draco running around and that lifting the Penalty was an idea."

"But not a good one."

"No, but a route he'd rather go." Yugi sighed.

"Yami didn't teach you how?" Ryou sounded surprised.

"I don't think he knew himself, he's never had to do it."

"Bakura says you have to break the ties connecting your magic to the one under the Penalty Game." Ryou said with a frown as the Tomb Robber sent him a thought, "I didn't even tell him I was coming to ask you."

"You know what Bakura's like." Yugi said, closing his eyes and trying to feel out the strands of magic. He could sense Ryou easily, there was another mass of light upstairs, that had to be Kari, along with two dark masses, who, since they were with the other light source had to be Yami and Ombre, there was a dark mass downstairs, that had to be Bakura, along with a source of magic that wasn't dark, but it wasn't light either and if he hadn't been led to it by the cords of his own magic, he doubted he would have sensed it.

That had to be Draco, after all, he didn't sense any of his friends who weren't M Item wielders either and they'd be with Kari, Ombre and Yami.

Yugi focused on the strands of his own magic, which weaved around the self styled Slytherin Prince and caged the teen in.

He tried calling them back to him, but they didn't even budge.

Yugi tried once more, then frowned, envisioned a huge pair of scissors made from his magic and cut the strands.

Ryou had to catch him as he nearly fell over. "Yugi"

"Done, but I don't think I'd like to try that again." Yugi groaned as a headache so blinding that he shut the link to avoid it reaching Yami, arrived, quickly followed by a bout of nausea.

"Thanks Yugi." Ryou smiled, "Let me help you down to the Great Hall."

"Thanks, I think I'm gonna need it."

* * *

The two got down to the Great Hall in time to see the post delivered. Joey was excitedly waving a letter around, telling Yugi that Serenity had gotten her timing right, and as Ryou left him with his friends at the table, he noticed Harry had one from Sirius too.

"Yugi?" Joey asked, worried, "You ok?"

The young man looked around quickly, decided that there wasn't anyone around that he didn't trust and whispered, "I lifted Draco's Penalty Game."

"What? Why?" Ron demanded, promptly getting sat on by Ombre for being too loud. "You can't trust him." He muttered with a glare at the Slytherin Table.

"Ryou."

Suddenly it made a lot more sense and while Harry still wasn't sure it was a good idea, if Ryou had come to ask Yugi about it there had to be a reason.

Both Yugi and Kari were plied with a ridiculous amount of food, though neither felt much like eating, and Yami handed over some of his energy to Yugi in order to help with the headache that was fading as he his energy level went back up again.

"What did Serenity say?" Yugi asked as they stood up to leave the breakfast table, taking a couple of pieces of toast with chocolate spread on with him.

"Just a letter to say here's my address, you'd better send me a letter soon or I'm going to bombard the school with mail." Joey said with a laugh, "Anyone would think she's annoyed that I didn't ring over the Summer."

Everyone snorted in response to that as they trudged across the wet, muddy vegetable path and entered greenhouse three, where they spent the entire lesson collecting Bubotuber pus, which wasn't very thought driven, bar the health and safety aspect and which was apparently good for the more stubborn forms of acne.

Ron spent the entire lesson muttering about Malfoy, until he was getting dark looks from even Harry.

"It was Yugi's choice." Harry inserted into Ron's unpleasant monologue, which to the relief of the rest of the gang shut Ron up.

By the time that they headed down to Care of Magical Creatures, Yugi was feeling a bit better and Kari was about half awake, which turned out to be a good thing considering that Hagrid had come with several crates full of very odd creatures that looked like… well… they didn't know what they looked like but even Bakura wasn't amused.

"Blast Ended Screwts." Hagrid told them happily. "Only just hatched, so you can raise em yourselves, make a project of it."

Draco looked like he was going to complain, but shut his mouth at a look from his brother.

By the end of the lesson the gang had been blown up, bitten, stung and generally had decided that saving the world was in fact **LESS** dangerous then looking after the little monsters.

Kari and Hermione shoveled food down their necks and raced off to the library, in favor of starting some new research rather then sticking around, and neither of them were seen again until the start of the next lesson.

Which, unfortunately for the majority of them came in the form of Divination and yet another presentiment of Harry's impending doom… until Harry told Professor Trelawney that no he hadn't been born mid-winter, he'd been born in July. Between that and Ron's unfortunately timed 'Can I see your Uranus?' comment, they were given a piece of homework that was to be referenced to their charts of the stars in the position they'd been in when they'd been born.

This of course had caused Yami to frown, but fill in the table as if he was Yugi, with a mind to let Yugi copy his chart when he had the lesson.

It didn't help Yami's mood when Joey jokily suggested that he take the ritual date as his fourteenth birthday.

They met Yugi and Hermione coming down from Arithmancy, complaining loudly about the amount of homework had been given to them.

They joined the end of the queue at the entrance to the Great Hall, discussing loudly while Kari and Hermione read books on tracking spells for some odd reason that they refused to discuss outside the Common Room, when there was uproar behind them.

Draco was reading the Daily Prophet out loud, much to the hilarity of the Slytherins, which was another piece claiming that Arthur Weasley was incompetent, this time it was because of his back up of Mad Eye Moody a couple of nights ago.

"Wow Weasley," Malfoy was smirking, taking the fact he could now actually say things to the group without getting a penalty in his stride. "Is your mother really that porky?"

Joey and Harry had to grab Ron's arms to stop him going after Draco.

"It's not worth it." Yami growled, glaring at Draco who tried not to appear intimidated, and the gang were surprised to find that Bakura wasn't actually attempting to do anything about it, obviously having decided that his adopted brother deserved it.

"You should've let me deal with him." Ron snarled as they ate dinner, the three girls heading up to the library to grab a couple more books on the subject they were researching after promising they'd meet them in the Boy's Dorm to tell them about their research.

The others ignored him.

"How did Malfoy find out the Penalty Game was gone so quickly?" Harry wondered.

"Ryou probably told him." Yugi said.

"Yeah, but wouldn't Ryou have said something…"

"Malfoys don't play nice with Gryffindors." Ron growled, taking up his glaring position facing the Slytherin table. Such was his distraction he barely touched his meal, although that may have been more mishmash of food he added to his plate.

More then one Gryffindor watched in disbelief as Ron shoveled the food in, and vowed never to look at cheese sauce the same way again.

Dinner was thankfully over quickly and Harry's eyes swept the Slytherin table as he got to his feet. Bakura, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle had already left the table, much to Harry's relief, since Ron had been looking for a fight and he didn't fancy costing Gryffindor points on the first day.

"Harry?" Yugi asked, still munching chocolate cake, and still catching up on all the energy he'd burnt this morning freeing Draco, though Harry was beginning to wonder if it had been a waste, no matter what Ryou had said.

"I'll meet you up there." Harry waved off Yugi's concern and headed out the door, getting to the stairwell before Draco appeared from behind the stairs. "Malfoy." Harry nodded, trying to accord the teen more respect then he was being offered, if only because he was too tired to be rude and to show the Pure-blood up.

Rudeness, however, wasn't what was on Draco's mind.

Harry couldn't believe it as the Shadows closed in around him and Draco.

Yugi and Yami had told him that only a Millennium Item wielder could call the Shadows, Draco couldn't really be… could he?

"Malfoy!" Harry growled, a headache kicking in. It was nothing compared to his nightmare migraines but he wasn't stupid, he'd learned enough from Kari's experience with her first Shadow Game to know that this was just the tip of the iceberg. "How did you drag us into the Shadow Realm?"

Harry watched with growing understanding as something started to glow on Draco Malfoy's chest. The glow came through the teenager's robes and formed into a golden item that caused Harry to growl.

"Why are **_you_** wearing the Millennium Ring?" Harry growled.

"So I can challenge you." Draco grinned, the Millennium Item protecting him from the Shadow Realm's effects.

"Yugi only just lifted the Penalty Game he put on you during our second year, and you're pulling this already?" Harry grew even angrier, "I thought you'd learnt your lesson."

Draco just shrugged, "Are you going to play me or not?"

Harry glared at him.

"If you want to forfeit and accept your Penalty Game now it's fine by me." Draco continued.

"What's the Game?" Harry asked.

Draco smirked, "Since you've been hanging out with the 'King of Games' I thought we'd play a game of Wizard's Duel Monsters."

"What happens if I lose?"

"If you don't play the Shadows will take a soul as forfeit, if you lose the Penalty is your soul."

"Malfoy, do you know what you've done?" Harry asked, "Your soul's on the line here too."

"I won't lose." Draco's smirk turned to a glare, Harry had seen far scarier ones on his friends' faces. "Will you play or not?"

Harry nodded, having taken Yugi's advice to carry his deck around at all times, especially since the events of the Summer. "Alright, usual rules?"

"Four thousand life points, first one to hit zero or deck out loses." Draco grinned as they shuffled their decks, "And I'm sure you're aware that your friend's trick doesn't work in the Shadow Realm."

"These are wizard Duel Monsters Cards, Malfoy." Harry growled, "Enhanced by my friends, they won't let me down." Harry drew his first hand.

"Your move first Potter."

Harry knelt, put his deck on the ground and drew his first card, trying to remember everything the others had taught him about the game. "I play two cards face down and a card in defense mode and end my turn." Two cards appeared right in front of him, and another in defense mode, more duel disk size then normal size. The headache got a little worse, but it wasn't so bad so far,

Draco drew, "I play one card face down, and summon my Serpent Guard in attack mode."

The Monster that appeared could have been a Slytherin Student had Harry not known better, with a black and green robe and a humanoid face, but no wand, instead he had a huge sword.

"Attack Potter's face down card."

The guard sliced through the card and for a half second, when the monster appeared, Harry's head felt like it exploded, then the monster on his card, a Baby Griffon, exploded and the pain subsided.

Harry panted for a moment, until his head cleared fully, no wonder Kari hadn't been able to fight Bakura if losing a monster caused that much pain…

"Your move Potter."

Harry draw and frowned, his hand was shaking.

"What's the matter? Are the Shadows too much for Gryffindor's Golden Boy?" Draco asked sarcastically.

Harry glared and summoned the monster he drew, "Gold Winged Wolf, in attack mode!" The wolf appeared, golden furred, with huge golden feathered wings, growling at Draco.

Harry grimaced against the pain, but it was nowhere near as bad as when his monster had been destroyed.

"I activate Beast Fangs, increasing my Wolf's attack to 2100." Harry grinned as his Wolf's fangs grew larger, "Gold Winged Wolf, attack his Guard!"

This time it was Draco that felt it as the Guard exploded. Harry smiled slightly as Draco flinched against the five hundred point drop.

"I end my turn Malfoy."

Draco looked paler then usual as he drew, it seemed he wasn't as immune as he thought he was. "Two cards face down and one in defence mode, your turn Potter."

Harry drew, shaking his head to clear his vision, "I summon my Gryphon, in attack mode and use it to attack your face down card."

Draco's snakelike thing exploded as the 1300 attack point monster attacked the card.

"And now, Gold Winged Wolf, attack him directly!"

Draco was sent sprawling by Harry's Wolf's claws.

Harry's eyes widened as the snakelike thing appeared in front of him and bit his arm. Pain raced through the teen as his own life points dropped by 2600.

"H…how?" Harry asked, barely able to think through the pain.

Draco didn't answer and Harry looked over quickly.

Draco wasn't getting up.

* * *

' _You idiot!'_ Draco heard someone yell at him, _'How dare you take the Ring? What were you thinking? A normal human like you couldn't handle the Shadow Realm!'_

" _Ba…Bakura?"_ Draco asked through the pain.

' _I'm taking control!'_ Draco felt something invade his mind and then he knew no more.

* * *

Harry watched as Draco got to his feet.

No echo of the pain that must have been racing through him like it had Harry…

Draco's eyes… they weren't grey… they were brown… they'd been grey a minute ago.

Who had brown eyes that…

"Bakura!" Harry snapped. "End this Shadow Game now."

"You're quick." Bakura in Draco's body smirked, his trademark smirk didn't look right on Draco's face but Harry was more concerned over the fact we was now facing someone who could handle the Shadow Realm and was a much better Duellist then he was. "And I can't, or rather won't."

"Then at least tell me why I lost the same amount of life points Ma…Draco did."

"By the rules, I have to." Bakura said, brown eyes staring him down. "That snake you sent to the graveyard has a special ability, you take the same amount of damage as the owner of the card on the turn it's sent to the graveyard." Bakura snorted. "It's my turn, isn't it?"

Harry nodded.

Bakura drew and his evil smirk grew eviler. Harry gulped.

"You know I have to say I'm impressed with both of you." Bakura said nonchalantly, "I suppose that it could be because you're wizards that you lasted this long, but the Shadows aren't meant for those who are untrained. You will lose Potter."

Harry scowled at him, "We'll see about that, Bakura."

"I play Monster Reborn to bring back my brother's guard and sacrifice it for this…" The guard appeared, disappeared and a huge Serpent creature appeared. It was almost as big as the basilisk Harry and Yugi had fought in their second year and no less intimidating, with huge fangs and Slytherin green scales. "My brother chose this one, the Great Serpent of the Earth, with 2300 attack points, making it more then a match for your Wolf." Bakura smirked though, "But I think I'll make it even stronger, by using Basilisk Fang, an equip card that increases any Serpent monster's attack by five hundred." It grew bigger and it's attack rose to 2800, "Now Great Serpent, attack his Wolf!"

Harry's Wolf exploded and Harry's life points dropped from 1400 to 700.

Harry's head felt like it exploded and he felt himself fall forward, luckily since he was sat down he didn't hurt anything, but he was in too much agony to realize it anyway.

"Turn end. It would be easier on yourself if you give up." Bakura's voice cut through the fog of pain, "You can't keep going like this, if you give up your soul will be trapped here but it'll be whole, you keep going and you run the risk of tearing your soul into shreds."

"W…Why do you care?" Harry asked, pain blinded but pushing himself upright, "You're…"

"You're not my problem, I'm only after the Pharaoh and the Princess, I wasn't going to challenge you unless you became more of a threat." Bakura answered, "This was Draco's idea, I had nothing to do with it."

Did Bakura sound like he was apologizing?

That wasn't possible, right?

Harry blinked, trying to stop the world from spinning, but it didn't help.

"Give up Potter, and there's a chance that your soul can be rescued, keep going and it'll be worse then the Dementors for you."

Harry's answer was to draw.

"Stupid mortal." Bakura growled, "You can't win."

Harry was busy trying to work something out.

4000 – 2100 – 500 What?

4000

1900

1400!

Damn.

One hundred points over the card he had currently face down.

Harry wasn't sure he could last another turn, he was barely holding himself together now…

"Give up Potter."

"N…no." Harry shook his head, wished he hadn't and placed the card he'd drawn face down alongside his other trap card. "I switch my Gryphon to defense mode and end my turn."

"Stupid Potter, very stupid." Bakura said, Harry thought he drew but was too busy trying to stay conscious and pay attention to the duel at the same time to be sure. "Great Serpent, attack his Gryphon!"

"Reflect Wall!" Harry activated the card he'd placed face down, "Reflects back the attack and destroys your monster."

The snake exploded. "One card face down and it's your turn Potter."

Harry knew this could be his last card, if he'd have taken any damage that turn, he was certain he wouldn't still be knelt here.

He drew. _Please, I need to win this…_

He stared at it.

He played it.

"I sacrifice half my life points to activate Phoenix Heart, which allows me to summon one monster from my Graveyard and attack you directly with it."

Bakura's eyes widened as Harry's 1600 attack point Gold Winged Wolf appeared on the field, "Attack!"

The Wolf swiped at Bakura but Harry was already losing consciousness.

Bakura's points hit zero as Harry hit the ground.

The bubble was fading and the entire gang was waiting.

Yami and Yugi had sensed it first, shooting out of the Great Hall before anyone could even start to ask what was wrong.

It hadn't taken long for Kari and Ombre to sense it, but they'd already been coming out of the library when they had, and had been half way down the stairs before Yami's loud and multilingual cursing reached them.

Someone was in a Shadow Game, but they couldn't understand who.

It had to be a Bakura creation, all of the other Shadow Duellists were here, waiting to see who or what had started this and who was the victim. Even Ryou had shot up here and was now waiting to see who was caught up in the Shadow Game.

* * *

The bubble faded, leaving behind two unconscious forms.

"Harry!" Yugi shot forward before the last of the Shadows had cleared.

"Draco!" Ryou was at the young man's side almost as fast.

"How the hell did Malfoy do that?" Joey demanded angrily.

"He has the Ring." Ryou growled, "I was afraid of this."

"Then why did you…" Ron scowled.

"Not now." Yami snapped. "We don't know who won and who's hurt."

"We need to get them both to the hospital wing. Draco's Shadow Game or not, he's still not a trained Shadow Duellist." Yugi said sharply, "The shadows would still have tried to feed on him."

"Yuge…" Joey trailed off as Draco groaned and sat up in Ryou's arms. "You…"

Draco actually broke away from Ryou and backed away quickly, "Bakura… took over from me…"

"Who won?" Yami snarled at his scariest, scared for his friend if he'd been fighting the Tomb Robber in Draco's body.

"I…I don't know. I don't know what happened after Bakura took over" Draco retorted with a glare.

"Get out and take that Ra accursed Ring with you." Ombre snarled.

Draco wasn't stupid, he fled.

"Ryou…" Joey growled.

"I'll deal with him." The hikari promised and left.

"I've got Harry." Joey scooped the small teen up and carried him to the hospital wing. No one wanted to say it, but if Draco had woken up and Harry was still out and Draco had initialised the game…

Yugi was actually more worried about something else, _"Yami what about his mind? Even if he won, the Shadows could have overwhelmed him."_

' _I know.'_ Yami returned, _'I think he won, his soul's still in his body.'_

" _That's a good sign."_ Yugi sensed Yami's concern, _"He's hurt isn't he?"_

' _Badly.'_ Yami growled, _'And I don't know if I can help.'_

" _What do you mean?"_

' _Harry's not a hikari, we might not be able to help him.'_

Madam Pomfrey was already expecting them. "Ryou Bakura said you were bringing someone in, which one of you…" She trailed off. "Set him down on one of the beds at the end Mr Wheeler."

Joey did what he was told and backed away quickly.

Yugi had to cast a barrier spell between his friend and the group that came in the door, including Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Ryou and Bakura, who was unconscious too, to stop them from attacking the group.

"Yugi, Harry won." Ryou said.

Yugi looked like he was going to ask how Ryou knew, but then assumed that it was better he didn't know, the bond between Ryou and Bakura was more convoluted then the one between him and his own dark half and Ryou hadn't appeared to have known before now…

However, if Ryou was right then it was a good thing.

Madam Pomfrey was scowling as she used the last of the diagnostic spells. "Physically there's nothing wrong with him, but his magical reserves are practically non existent and I'm no mind healer but I'd say something's attacked his mind." She paused and looked at Ombre, "This was a Shadow Game, right?"

Ombre nodded, wondering what Madam Pomfrey was getting at.

"Can't you help him the same way you helped your hikari?"

"We don't know. We're going to try." Yami promised no more then that, he didn't know if it was possible.

"I can give him something to restore some of his lost energy but that's about all I can do." Madam Pomfrey looked ill amused by this fact. "I'll have to inform Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and they'll probably inform his Godfather."

' _Sirius is going to have a field day.'_ Yami thought sarcastically, "Madam Pomfrey, we'll have to stay close if we're going to try to help."

She pursed her lips but nodded. "Miss Ironhide, I'd like a word with you once you've gotten started whatever you're going to try."

"Yes Madam Pomfrey."

Yugi had to let her out of his barrier, and then they settled in chairs and on beds at 'their' end of the ward. "I'll try." Ombre said.

"It's better I go." Yami shook his head, "The Puzzle interacted with Harry over the Summer, I don't know if the Orb would react at all."

"Just be careful." Joey frowned, "And don't… sorry Yami." The young man sighed.

"You're worried, I understand." Yami smiled sadly, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. Yugi waited half a second and then lifted the Puzzle from around his own neck and put it on Harry.

"Now all we can do is wait." Yugi sighed as the eye on the Puzzle glowed.

* * *

Yami was surprised to find that the corridor between his room and what was possibly Harry's soul room was similar to the corridor which held the portrait of the Fat Lady.

It shouldn't have been this easy, just to simply waltz into Harry's mind, and something about it bothered the Pharaoh, but he didn't stop to think about it and on opening the door to Harry's Soul Room, Yami's eyes had to adjust for a moment to how dark the room was. There many shadowy corners and the only light was being given off by a candle in the center of the room.

It bathed the parts of the room it touched in a warm light, but there was far more darkness in the room then light.

For Yami, who was used to either his tomb like room, or Yugi's bright and airy one, the room wasn't what he'd expected but he didn't waste time hesitating at the door.

Harry was unconscious on a four poster bed that looked like it had come from their dorm, the only thing in the entire room to have Gryffindor colours on it, unless you counted the candle's flame, and he was terribly pale and washed out.

"Harry," Yami shook him gently and the teen opened his eyes, the emerald green orbs revealed just how much pain he was in, "I'm here to help."

"I won, didn't I?"

"You tell me."

"I used Phoenix Heart, and my Wolf attacked successfully… so I won." Harry's face gained a smile. Where are we?" Harry asked hoarsely.

"Your Soul Room, Yugi put the Puzzle on you so I could help."

"How come it's so dark?"

Yami shrugged, "I don't know, it's your Soul Room." He examined Harry carefully, "You did really well, I've never known a someone who wasn't linked to a Millennium Item, who won a Shadow Game before."

"Draco challenged me, but Bakura took over when we both took 2100 points direct damage."

"You took…" Yami shook his head, amused, "Harry, I'm going to lend you some of the Puzzle's power, it's nothing bad, but it's just to help the healing process, and if you'd let me, I'd like to examine the memory of the Duel." Harry hesitated and Yami sighed, "I won't if you don't want me to."

"Sorry Yami…" Harry shook his head and Yami frowned but there was understanding his eyes.

"Is it alright if I stay until you're fully recovered?" Yami asked, offering Harry a ball of purple energy. Harry touched it and it sank into him. Harry smiled slightly and to Yami the room brightened slightly, a sign it was helping.

Harry felt the energy rush through him and the pain subside slowly, sitting up, "You could if you wanted to, you don't have to ask, do you?" Yami looked surprised, but answered truthfully.

"No," Yami admitted, "But it's polite to ask before you take residence in someone's mind." He paused, "At least I think it is, other then Yugi I've never had anyone to ask."

"What did he say the first time you asked?" Harry asked, having never heard this part of the story before.

Yami looked chagrined, "I wasn't strong enough to start with to even keep myself alert for any real amount of time, yet alone ask permission to enter his mind."

Harry tilted his head and sat up, sorting out the pillows so he could lean against them. "So what happened to make him trust you enough to let you into his memories?"

Yami shook his head, still amazed that Yugi had trusted him so implicitly without even knowing who or what Yami was, "I'd been helping him for a while, but would you believe it was combination of Kaiba and our friend Mai Valentine that finally got us working together properly?"

"But I thought you and Kaiba hated each other back then."

"We did, or rather, he thought he hated Yugi." Yami said, "No one but Tea could tell the difference."

"Then how?"

"Did we ever tell you about the Duel with Kaiba in Pegasus's castle?"

"Just that you lost."

Yami sighed, he didn't like admitting to this part, but… "I was about to win, and Kaiba stood on the wall surrounding the castle on all sides, but more specifically the cliff side edge, if I'd attacked, he would have been killed." Yami looked disgusted with himself, "Yugi didn't want to attack and instead of acquiescing and giving control back, I ordered the attack."

Harry's eyes went huge and Yami couldn't look at him.

"That was the first time I realized just how strong Yugi could be." Yami said with a small, proud, smile, "He not only wrenched control away, but somehow managed to get a hologram Celtic Guardian, and we're not talking the new holograms, but the old ones that were little more then illusions, to stop mid attack, which should have been impossible."

Harry couldn't help thinking that Yami was more then a little proud of his hikari, even when the person in question had been fighting him. "But if Yugi had to fight you, how did he get to trust you so much?"

"That would be Mai." Yami said, "She talked Yugi into facing up to me instead of just shutting me out. I had to swear that I'd never go against Yugi's wishes again before he'd let me help out."

Harry looked like he was thinking about this, "Is that why you're normally so careful to make sure you don't do something Yugi would get annoyed at?"

Yami nodded, though he had a slightly rueful smile. "Though I think last year kind of blew that out of the water."

Harry just laughed.

"Harry, are you sure I can't poke around your mind?" Yami asked, "I'd like to check the shadows didn't change anything."

Harry hesitated, "Could you wait until I'm healed enough to poke around with you?"

"Sure."

"You can stay in my mind as long as you need to." Harry said with a trusting smile, then led back down and drifted off.

The Pharaoh stood up, and looked around for somewhere for him to sit, and chose to sit against the wall and try something. _'Yugi, can you hear me?'_

* * *

Yugi jumped a mile as a faint thought, which sounded like it had come from a really old radio from at least three rooms away reached him.

" _Yami? You in alright?"_

' _Harry did win. That Phoenix Heart card you were trying to cage from him last week saved him. I'm going to stay in here until Harry's better. So it might be a good idea to tell Madam Pomfrey.'_

" _Talking won't be easy once Harry's awake, I can barely hear you now. The link's weak when it's not me wearing the Puzzle."_ Yugi frowned, _"Your body will have to stay here too."_

' _Leave the link open.'_ Yami replied, _'I'll try and give updates.'_

At least 'give updates' was what Yugi assumed Yami was going to say as the link faded out.

"Yuge." Joey nodded to the barrier where the two professors were waiting semi-patiently. Yugi let them in.

"What happened?" McGonagall sounded furious. Yugi explained quickly, leaving out how Yami was currently hiding in Harry's mind to give some support to the young man, though somehow he just knew Professor Dumbledore knew. "And we're pretty sure Harry won, but he'd going to need time to recover."

Yugi paused as he caught Dumbledore's eyes, where concern was showing through behind the twinkling. Yugi felt something odd, like pressure on his mind and it hurt like hell. _"Yami, if that's you that's not funny!"_

' _?'_ The alarmed and questioning feeling he got back was about all he could understand from his dark and the pressure eased off.

" _I'm going to have words with him once Harry's better."_ Yugi thought sternly, _"That ruddy hurt."_ He rubbed his head with his hand, trying to shake some of the headache that had caused while Joey continued the explanation, wondering if something was wrong. Yugi let the Professors out of the barrier then slumped in a chair.

"Yuge?" Joey asked, worried.

"Headache, nothing serious. Yami's in, Harry's letting him stay until he's healed." Yugi reported.

"I don't understand." Hermione said, "How did Yami get in? Harry's not a hikari."

"No." Yugi allowed, "But his mind must have been wide open for some reason and I can't think of a good one. The only thing I can think of was that someone's been through his mind before and it opened pathways."

"But Yami can't get into Joey's mind and Marik was in there at one point." Hermione frowned.

"No, because Joey chucked Marik out, creating barriers and shields against that kind of forced intrusion, Harry doesn't have those on his mind, so whoever invaded left peacefully, but left the doors open behind them."

"So someone with mind magic?" Kari asked, then paused and gasped, "Robyn knew about some kind of mind magic! Remember Xuan?"

Yugi and Joey paused and nodded, remembering him as the bad guy that Kari had nearly killed herself to defeat.

"Eye contact allowed him to get into our minds!" Kari said, lowering her tone, but no less excited as Madam Pomfrey glared at her, "Xuan was a Wizard!" She turned to her friend, "Hermione, do you know of any wand magic that might allow you to get into a person's mind."

"Well…" Hermione started thinking, "I think it's called Legellimency but I don't know much more then that."

"Another thing to add to our list of things to read up on."

"Thinking of things to read up on, what are you girls scheming?" Joey asked, not that he wasn't still concerned about Harry, but there was little they could do for the young man, he was already being looked after the best way they could.

Kari was saved from answering by a call from Madam Pomfrey and the gang settled for a time, wondering exactly what the nurse wanted.

When she came back, it was with a frown on her face.

"Kari?"

Madam Pomfrey has a spell she wants us to learn." Kari said, "She's working on something to help Harry too."

"Is that why she wanted to talk to you?"

Kari nodded, "That and we have to decide which of us needs to stay and which of us are heading back to the dorm."

"But…"

"She wouldn't let you guys stay with me and she isn't going to let us stay with Harry." Kari sighed, "We get two people." She held up two fingers to emphasize her point, "And Yami counts as one."

"What?" Joey protested, "That's no fair!"

"So I had an idea." Kari said, "We draw from the top of our decks and the one with the highest attack points is the other one to stay."

There were a round of nods and everyone drew.

"2400, Red Eyes." Joey held it up.

"2000, Dark Magician Girl." Kari sighed.

"I'm out, 2100, Sixth Son."

"2300, I'm out too, Millennium Witch."

"2300." Ombre held up her Drake card.

"I win then, 2500, the Dark Magician." Yugi smiled slightly. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"You'd better give us an update when we see you." Joey said firmly. Yugi nodded in agreement and lowered his barrier, letting the others out.

"G'night guys."

"Night Yugi." Joey waved over his shoulder as he left the hospital wing.

Yugi sighed and sat on one of the bed, opening his bag. The items hidden underneath his school book were dangerous, but they had no choice but to wield them because if they didn't have them, they could fall into the wrong hands…

Like those of Draco.

" _Should we have challenged Bakura for the Ring before now? Back when the darks gained their own bodies? Before any of this could have started?"_ Yugi wondered, though he knew the thoughts wouldn't get down the link, _"We should never have given up the Ring in exchange for the Eye."_

Sleep didn't come easily to the Heir.


	6. Mind Games

Yugi was the last one down to the lake side the next morning, where the others were already warming up.

"Hey Yuge!" Joey waved him over, "Anything?"

"Not yet." Yugi shook his head, dropping his bag and stretching out, "But it'll take a while for Harry to recover, even though he won. The first Shadow Game is always the hardest."

Seto snorted and Joey nodded briefly, both having experienced one before.

Their run completed, they were all warmed up and ready as they paired up for combat training, Hermione and Ombre paired up, the Princess showing the bookworm some of the more basic moves, since she hadn't really sat in on Yugi and Harry's lessons from Joey, and Joey would have paired up with Yugi had Ron not grabbed the smaller teen first.

Joey frowned but, at a reassuring nod from Yugi, shrugged and paired up with Kaiba, who was a much better match for him anyway.

"Ready Ron?" Yugi asked, settling into a stance that Joey had taught him. He'd never felt easy in one of the overly stylised martial arts stances, but had shifted easily into the less formal 'ready' stances of Joey's street fighting style.

Ron just nodded, scowling as he shifted into his own stance.

"Ron?" Yugi asked, frowning and wondering if it wouldn't have been better to pair up with Joey after all.

Ron attacked first, punching high and was blocked easily by the Heir, who countered with a couple of punches of his own, one of which was blocked, the other struck home, but since they were only training, it didn't hurt too much.

Ron, however, wasn't playing, and the kick to Yugi's side had the teen doubled over and he had to drop to avoid the next punch, attempting to sweep out Ron's legs, only missing knocking him over by dint of Ron jumping over him.

"What are you playing at?" Yugi demanded as he got back to feet and blocked the next few attacks, countering with his own when he could get an attack in edgeways.

"You were wrong." Ron growled, catching Yugi's side kick and twisting Yugi's leg, making the Heir yelp and end up face first on the ground.

Ron backed off to let Yugi get up, and for a moment was scared of the glare the young man was giving him, before countering with a glare of his own. "Wrong about what?" Yugi growled.

The two circled, not taking their eyes off of each other, "You shouldn't have done it." Ron growled, attacking again.

Yugi was ready for him, blocking and dodging easily. "You're mad I took the Penalty Game off."

"Harry's hurt because you did." Ron snapped back, attempting to hit Yugi and getting even madder because everything was missing.

He didn't understand that being mad meant that he wasn't watching his body language and Yugi could read his next moves like an open book.

"I know that." Yugi growled back, refusing to throw a punch when his opponent wasn't thinking clearly, "You think I don't feel guilty about it?"

Ron muttered something unintelligible under his breath and attacked again, faster then Yugi had given him credit for and landing a lucky hit, sending the Heir sprawling with a punch to the face that had Yugi holding his cheek and seeing whether any of his teeth had come loose.

"That's enough." Joey planted himself firmly between his friends, "You ok Yuge?" He looked back over his shoulder for a moment, as Seto offered Yugi a hand up.

"Fine." Yugi growled, still holding his cheek, there was one loose tooth, and he was certain it would bruise painfully.

"Madam Pomfrey." Seto said firmly, glancing at Joey who nodded, silent communication passing between the two that was something like, 'you wanna deal with him, or can I have the pleasure?'

"I'll take him up." Joey said, "We'll see you at breakfast."

Seto waited until Joey had pushed Yugi up towards the school, knowing that if Ron had broken anything, Madam Pomfrey could deal with it, before turning to the still irritated young man. "You're an idiot." Seto growled at him, waving at Ombre to continue the lesson with Hermione.

Ron didn't look like he comprehended, making Seto even angrier, "Let me guess, that was about the events of yesterday?"

"It was Yugi's fault."

"Yugi had to do what Yugi had to do. Shadow Magic isn't all black and white, good and evil, you have to choose your battles half the time. Yugi obviously had a good reason for lifting the Penalty Game. Think about it would you?"

Ron couldn't think of a good reason and told Seto so.

"Yugi lifted the Game now, and Draco attacked the group. Now think who Draco would have had to attack to get to Harry before the Penalty was lifted you moron."

Ron paused.

"Now you see why the game was lifted now, instead of waiting for a redemption that wasn't going to come?" Seto hated explaining to idiots and Ron was certainly acting like one. "Now, if you want to have a proper fight, I'll be quite happy to fight you, but after that little display, I won't be taking it easy on you."

Ron backed up a step, as mad as he was, fighting properly with Kaiba was not high on his to do list after yesterday's training session, when Joey and Seto had spent the better part of the session beating ten tons of rubbish out of each other.

"Well?" Kaiba asked, shifting into an offensive stance.

Ron shifted into one of his own. "Fine."

* * *

Breakfast at the Gryffindor Table was quiet for their group, although some of that was because Ron, who'd been the most vocal since the Quidditch World Cup, was in the Hospital Wing, and no one else felt much like talking, though to be fair to Yugi it was mostly because while Madam Pomfrey had healed his mouth, it still hurt.

Joey looked over the heads at the various tables and caught Seto's eyes, not hard considering both were among the tallest in their years and that Seto had been trying to catch his eye for the last ten minutes.

Seto looked towards Yugi, also not hard, you just looked for the three coloured star, and then gave Joey a questioning look.

Joey just rolled his eyes, making Seto snort.

Then it was time for class again and all the fun of potions.

* * *

Ron didn't understand it.

He was sat down in the Great Hall, finally having been released for lunch, and still hadn't quite grasped why Seto had been so mad at him this morning.

Yugi had had a good reason, he got that now, but it had still been a stupid thing to do, if he was going to do it, shouldn't he have warned his friends about possible Shadow Games?

He looked up from his meal as the gang walked in, expecting the glares that graced Ombre and Joey's faces.

What he didn't expect was the resigned and almost defeated look on Yugi's as the Heir, whose cheek was still bruised, uncorked a vial which looked like it contained the same sort of potion that Madam Pomfrey had given him for his bruises, downed it in one and started eating.

"Yugi…" Ron called, knowing how much trouble he would be in when Yami woke up if he found out Ron had actually attacked his hikari during practise, "Yugi, I wanted to say I'm sorry for this morning."

Joey went to say something, but a glance from Yugi made him sit down and start eating, "It's fine." Yugi said, sighing, "I expected you guys to be mad at me."

"I shouldn't have lashed out."

"I went into combat training with people I was sure would be pissed off with me." Yugi shrugged, "It's fine, honest."

Ron frowned at the reassurance, since Yugi had said that it was 'fine'. Did he actually mean that it was ok, or was he hinting that it wasn't ok and that he was still mad at him?

"If you're worried I'm going to tell Yami when he wakes up, you needn't be." Yugi smiled slightly, wincing and putting a hand to his cheek, "I'll leave it out if you want."

"Please." Ron nodded.

Yugi went back to work on his plate of food and Ron relaxed, piling food on that actually went well together and scarfing it all down.

* * *

Yugi was asleep already, homework done, and Ron was in the Hospital Wing, having drawn the strongest monster, so Joey wasn't too worried about leaving the dorm and heading downstairs, where the Weasley twins were scheming something or another, probably to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and Hermione was up with a huge book that looked older then the Puzzle.

Of course he knew the book couldn't actually be older then the puzzle, but gold kept a lot better over time then paper did and this book looked like it had seen a lot of wear and tear.

"Anything interesting?"

"Did you know it's possible to summon the Shadows with wand magic, but it's not possible to control it?" Hermione asked without looking up.

"You'd need a Millennium Item to control it, and even then I think it's a lot harder then Yami or Bakura makes it look, I mean look how much training Yugi's been getting." Joey said, sitting down next to her, "Is that what you've been researching?"

"No." Hermione shook her head, "We're not ready to tell you about those yet, this is my own research."

"Why?" Joey was concerned for his friend.

"Any books on that have references to the Shadows are another link back to Yami and Ombre's time, and another reference we didn't have before on how the Shadows work exactly." Hermione replied, "Book?"

Joey accepted one and frowned at it, it looked almost as old as the one Hermione was reading, "Ancient Rites And Rituals?"

"Everything I've found on it so far has led back to Blood Rituals." Hermione scowled at her book, "I don't think Yami or Ombre would have had anything to do with them but…"

"There had to be a Pharaoh before Yami." Joey said reasonably. "Where did you get these? They look ancient."

"I got Professor Moody to check them over, someone slipped them into my school bag at the Quidditch World Cup." Hermione saw the look she was getting from Joey, "Professor Moody says they're not hexed or anything and you've heard about how paranoid he is. After the diary I wasn't stupid enough to open them before someone had checked them over."

"Fair enough." Joey settled in, opening the book to the first page.

"Joey?" Hermione's pause made the young man look up.

"Sup?"

"I was wondering about something."

"What's that?"

"Well… Ombre claims you have a link to the past."

"No, I don't have a yami."

"That wasn't what I was going to ask."

"Then spill."

"Do you think you'd have some of the connections to the Shadow Magic that Yugi, Kari and Seto have?"

"I don't have Yugi or Kari's level of Shadow Control, and Kaiba's only ever gotten a reaction from a Millennium Item once, I guess it could explain how I held on so long when I was fighting Yami Marik, but I've never been able to use the Shadows."

"Have you ever tried?"

"I don't know if I'd want to." Joey admitted, "I don't think I'd have the sort of control that I'd need. I'm too prone to flying off the handle."

Hermione snorted, an amused smile gracing her face, "No comment."

"You're not supposed to agree with me." Joey complained.

Hermione just laughed and started reading again.

"Zero respect." Joey grumbled as he read the first few lines, making Hermione grin behind her book.

* * *

Wednesday morning Ron didn't come to training, didn't eat with them at breakfast and didn't sit with them during classes.

They were wondering if they were going to see him when Draco Malfoy started making comments from further down the line to the Great Hall, about people with hedgehog hair, people who crave fame and about gaudy jewellery.

"What does he think the Ring is?" Yugi muttered low enough for only his friends to hear. "It's bigger then the Puzzle."

"Ignore him Yuge and he'll go away." Joey growled, wanting to go have a 'talk' with Draco but restraining himself because he had no great urge to be knocked out cold in a Shadow Game, just before dinner.

Draco's comments continued the further down the line they got, irritating the gang no end, until finally Joey snapped and wheeled around, glaring at Draco, "You've been wearing bigger jewellery then Yuge has, are you compensating for something?" Joey asked.

"Shut up Wheeler!" Draco growled, "Or I'll put you where I put Potter."

"We're not afraid of you Mouthboy." Joey snorted, "You talk big, but you had to have Bakura bail you out, and Harry still won." Joey turned around to say something to Yugi but before he could open his mouth there was a bang, something hot had passed Joey's face, and the entire gang had gone for their wands.

"No you don't!" Someone roared as a second bang went off.

The gang watched in shock as Moody appeared on the scene, pointing his wand at a blonde ferret.

"He get you?" Moody asked Joey.

"Missed." Joey said with a low growl.

"Good." Moody looked approving, "Your friends have good reflexes too."

Joey hadn't noticed before that moment that Ron had somehow got into the group and had his wand drawn too.

Moody turned to the ferret, levitating it and letting it fall. "Never attack when someone's back is turned."

Professor McGonagall was coming out of the Great Hall to see what the commotion was and when she saw it, she had to stop and look again, "Professor Moody, what are you doing?"

"Teaching."

"Teach… is that a student?" She shrieked. "Change him back at once!"

Moody scowled but did as he was told, "I'll be speaking to your head of house about this, lad." He growled, low and warningly.

Draco ran off, Crabbe and Goyle in tow.

Professor McGonagall proceeded to lecture Professor Moody, and was still going when the gang finally got in for food.

Ron had the biggest smile on his face that they'd seen for a while.

"You ok Ron?"

"Don't talk to me." Ron said dreamily, sorting out his plate.

"Why?" Yugi asked, confused.

"I want to remember that forever, Malfoy, the bouncing ferret!"

Joey and Harry had to try not to laugh, having seen the disapproving look on Hermione's face, while Yugi was content with small smile and large mountain of food.

* * *

"Any idea who the guard is tonight?" Harry asked Yami, who was currently sat on the table in his mind, helping him with a couple of spells that he was certain would help protect Harry's mind against any more intrusions.

It would be easy for Harry to shove the last few locks into place once Yami had left.

"It's a light," Yami tilted his head, trying see what the Puzzle would tell him, "If it's who I think it is, they're supposed to be in bed in the dorms."

"Kari?" Harry laughed, "It's got to be a good sign right? Ombre wouldn't let her out of her sight if she wasn't recovering well."

"I know, I know." Yami smiled ruefully.

"You're being too protective of your big sister, Yami."

"I thought we agreed you were going to stop the age jokes."

"Sorry."

"No you're not, not even slightly." Yami sighed, "Feel that?" He asked as he shoved one particularly nasty spell into place, the mental equivalent of Mirror Force, perfectly harmless to Harry and those Harry subconsciously considered allies, but a trap for anyone else daring to come too far in. It was a last resort mind block, but Harry hadn't needed much convincing to let Yami help him with it.

Harry considered, feeling like the room had been strengthened, "I thought it would feel restraining." He said.

"No, it's a mental shield for Shadow Wielders, and we need our minds to be able to work at full capacity when we're using our magic, if anything being able to have it proves you've been spending far too much time with Yugi and I."

Harry snorted, "Didn't your easy entry into my mind tell you that?"

"No, that tells me that I'm going to have to find out who the mind mage is that's been playing with your mind without your knowledge and Shadow Game him." Yami's tone turned rather vindictive and for a moment Harry was reminded of Psycho Yami from the summer before, before Yami shrugged and said, "But I'd have to research the type of magic, find out who had it and then get them alone first anyway."

"You scare me sometimes." Harry admitted, "But you have to be scary, because you're darkness and though dark isn't evil, it does scare people. You're scary so Yugi doesn't have to be."

"You know, the more time I spend in here, the more I wonder why we haven't thought of things like this before."

"You're getting an outsider's look for a change." Harry pointed out, "What's the last lock on that one by the way?"

"It doesn't have one, it's already up." Yami assured him, "It won't stop me getting out or in, but whoever left the doors open won't be getting back in." Yami looked like he was considering something, "I think you'll wake up tomorrow."

"Really?" Harry frowned, finding he wasn't actually looking forward to being alone in his head again.

"You don't sound too keen." Yami frowned at him.

"Well, it's that… you haven't had a chance to look around yet and…"

"I don't have to stay once you've woken up for the first time." Yami said, "In fact Madam Pomfrey may insist that I leave."

"No." Harry shook his head, "You can feel it too, can't you? That something's not right."

Yami nodded, it was something they'd noticed when they'd been pushing the spells into place, something in Harry's mind was rebelling against the powers now at work in Harry's mind.

It looked like Harry wanted him there when he looked into what it was.

Yami however, had been the one to insist that they didn't play around with Harry's mind until he had woken up the first time, something about the human mind being able to recover faster once contact had been reinstated with the human world and the shadows having less of a hold on it once it had happened.

Yami hadn't been able to explain it, he'd just known it.

"Yami?"

"Hum?" Yami looked over at him, from where he'd been considering the candle on the table next to him.

"I don't understand something."

"What's that?"

"Well, you said a couple of years ago that proximity to the Millennium Items didn't increase the likelihood of a person being able to use the Shadow Magic, right?"

"Right?"

"Then how come me, Ron, Hermione and a couple of others have been finding it easier to summon our monsters to larger sizes with wand magic then others? People who haven't been in close range for a long time?"

Yami frowned, "Uhhhh."

Harry laughed, "Ok, so one to ask you after you get your memories back."

Yami just mock glared him.

"What? It was a valid point."

Yami flipped him off and looked around, "Your room's still darker then I would have thought of you Harry." Yami said, considering, "I mean don't get me wrong, I never expected your room to match up to the brightness of Yugi's but still…"

"You know what my home life was like." Harry pointed out, "And some of it might be because of whatever's here that's not supposed to be."

"Point."

"We'll find out soon enough." Harry sighed, feeling sleepy again. "Damn it, when am I going to stop sleeping?"

"Trust me, when you wake up in the Human World, you'll feel like rubbish and you'll want to sleep again."

"So my mind's recovered… almost…"

"And your body has to follow, but it takes less time, unless there was some special condition on the duel…" Yami frowned at him.

"Souls on the line only."

"I wish you wouldn't make that sound so ordinary."

Harry just grinned at him.

"Go to sleep Harry." Yami sighed.

"You're as tired as I am!" Harry saw it, through a chink in Yami's emotional armour; it was hard to hide things from each other here. "How much is this draining you?"

"Not enough to be worried about, it's more the spell weaving that was the hard part." Yami tried to wave off Harry's concern. "Besides, I'll go to sleep soon as well."

"On the floor!" Harry protested. "How do you conjure things in your Soul Room?"

"Just believe it is there and it appears, sorry, not helpful, but best guide I can give."

In a heartbeat a second four poster bed had appeared, "Thanks…" Yami trailed off as he saw Harry had fallen asleep from the effort, he smiled and tucked his friend in. "Night Harry." He murmured before taking the second bed, slipping easily into sleep.

* * *

Thursday morning was cold and when the gang came in from morning training, they dove straight upstairs for warm showers before they even considered going for breakfast.

They were looking forward to class today, it was their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with Professor Moody and Yugi just knew that Yami would want a copy of Yugi's memories from this class even without having heard all the hype that had been going around the school this week.

Breakfast was dawdled over but lunch certainly wasn't, with the majority of the gang in the queue for class, before the bell had gone for the end of lunch, even Hermione and Kari were in the queue, reading some more books that they'd borrowed from the library.

Hurrying into seats at the front of the class and pulling out their text books and wands, waiting for their professor to arrive, and grinning excitedly.

"You can put those away," Moody said as he slumped over his desk and stared at the class, "Those books, you won't need them."

Moody took the register, his magical eye fixing on all of them as they answered and once finished he looked, with both eyes at the group at the front and asked, "Potter and Muto?"

"Hospital Wing, sir." Yugi answered, "Have been since Monday."

Moody didn't reply to that, explaining that he'd be focusing on dark curses during his time with them, that he was supposed to be only teaching them counter curses, but he would be demonstrating them as Professor Dumbledore had a higher opinion of how much their nerves could take before having a go at Lavender for not paying attention.

She sheepishly put away her horoscope, which she'd been showing Pavarti under the table. Proving the rumour that had been going around that Moody could see through wood and other objects as well as the back of his head.

"Do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished in Wizarding law?"

Several hands shot up, including Hermione, Ron, Kari and Yugi.

Moody pointed at Ron, who answered, "Uhhh… the Imperius Curse?"

"Ronald Weasley, right?" Moody asked, Ron nodded, "Your father would have mentioned that one, it gave the Ministry a headache during the last war." Moody took a huge black spider out of a jar and put it on his desk, where it scuttled towards the gang, making Ron recoil slightly.

The entire class leaned forward as Moody pointed his wand at it, "Imperio!"

The spider jerked forward for a moment, before tap dancing down the table. Most of the class were in fits of laughter, but Yugi had caught Joey's gaze and the clenching of the teen's fists. It was a control spell, Yugi was about to send out his own magicks to see exactly how it worked when Moody spoke again, "You think it's funny do you?" The Professor asked, "You'd like it? Would you? If I did it to you?"

The class fell silent.

"Total control." Moody said softly, noting the supportive hand now resting on Joey's arm, as the spider balled himself up and rolled over and over and over, "I could make it jump down your throat, chuck itself out a window…"

" _That is way too close to the powers to the Millennium Rod."_ Yugi growled mentally, as Moody explained about how some of Voldemort's followers had been under the curse and some had pretended to, to escape prison. Joey gave him a slightly wavering smile as Yugi caught his eye.

"Anyone else know one?" Moody asked, "Another illegal curse?"

Yugi, Kari, Hermione and surprisingly Neville's hands shot up. Moody's rolled around to Neville.

"The C…Cruciatus Curse." Neville said in a small but distinct voice.

"Longbottom, right?" Moody asked. Neville nodded but Moody didn't say anything, just reaching into the jar for the second spider. Casting an enlarging spell to make it bigger.

"Crucio!"

The spider curled in on itself, twitching horribly. There was no mistaking that if the spider could have screamed it would have.

"Stop it!" Hermione shrieked.

Ombre's attention was caught by the pale look on her hikari's face, while Hermione and Yugi were concerned by the whiteness and horrified look of Neville's.

Moody cut the spell off, shrinking the spider down again. "Cruciatus. You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can use it." Moody looked around, "Anyone know any others?"

Hermione's hand shook as she raised it.

"Yes?"

"Avada Kedava." Hermione gulped.

Several people looked at her uneasily, but her friends had known it was to come, having escaped from it already.

"Ah." Moody said, a slight smile forming on his twisted lips, "The last and worse, the killing curse." He got the last spider out.

"Avada Kedava!" He said, pointing his wand at it. There was a bright flash of green and the spider rolled over, dead. "Not nice, not pleasant and there's no way to block it. Only one person has survived it and he's currently in the Hospital Wing."

Everyone knew who he was talking about, and the gang looked at each other, deciding not to bring that snippet up when giving Harry and Yami the class notes.

When the bell finally went for the end of the lesson, the group just stopped around the corner from the classroom, seeing Moody led Neville off for a cup of tea and how terrified the teen looked.

"Kari, are you alright?"

"Xuan." She muttered, "No wonder Robyn was so pissed at him."

"Huh?"

"Legellimency, the Cruciatus, they're all Wizarding spells, illegal ones… well Legellimency is only illegal if you're unregistered and I bet he was…" Kari shuddered, "Can we just eat and head up to the Hospital Wing please?"

They nodded but Yugi hung back, grabbing Joey's arm, "You ok?"

"Fine Yuge." Joey shook himself, "I wonder how much control that Imperius gives someone over you."

"A lot, it sounds like…"

"It has to be easier to break then the Millennium Rod's powers, right?" Joey asked.

"I…" Yugi found he couldn't reassure Joey, as much as he'd like to. "You'd be harder to control after Marik, Joey. You fought for control once and won, you can do it again."

Joey would have preferred this once, for Yugi to have lied to him, but he knew his best friend was right, not comparing spell power until he'd seen it on a human, first hand.

"Come on, foods up." Yugi smiled slightly, catching up with the group who'd stopped to wait for them by the stairs. "Let's go."

* * *

Ron and Hermione were in the middle of a debate about the amount of times Ron could be trampled by a Hippogriff in his divination homework when Harry woke up, sitting up slowly, putting his glasses on and catching Joey's attention first, winking at him.

"You shouldn't be making things up Ron!" Hermione was growling.

"Isn't that our usual fall back?" Harry asked, making those facing the other way jump and causing a round of hugs.

"You feeling ok?" Yugi asked.

Harry rubbed his forehead, where a headache was forming. "Getting there." He gave the teen a reassuring smile, then paused as Yami asked him to pass on something, "And Yami says I should be out tomorrow evening."

Yugi smiled and Joey whooped, catching the attention of Madam Pomfrey.

"Don't scare us like that!" Hermione growled at him as they were ushered away by the Nurse.

Once Madam Pomfrey had given the ok, the gang rejoined their friend who looked like he was desperate for news. "It is Thursday, right?" Harry asked.

"Yeap."

"Morning or afternoon?"

"Evening."

"Damn, so we missed Professor Moody's first class." Harry paused as everyone's faces grew dark for a second, "What?"

"He demonstrated the Unforgivables." Kari growled, "There's two more to go with Avada Kedava apparently."

"Really?" Harry asked, "What?"

"The Imperius." Joey said, "Which is a little too much like the powers of the Millennium Rod for my liking and the Cruciatus, a torture spell, causes pain, lots of it."

Harry opened his mouth, paused, Joey smiling slightly as Harry gained the faraway look that reminded him of the look Yugi used to gain when he'd been listening to Yami and had shared a body with the Pharaoh. "Yami wants the memories of the class please Yugi, when he's out."

"Sure." Yugi nodded. "I thought he would."

"I don't understand something." Harry said, mentally holding up a hand at Yami's questions for Yugi, "If they're Unforgivables, how come Moody could use them in class?"

"They're only illegal on humans…" Yugi trailed off. "Oh…"

Yami had stopped badgering in Harry's mind as well, the implications sinking in easily.

"Yugi… how many people know about…" Joey said carefully.

"Almost all of them are in this room." Yugi assured them.

There was silence for a moment, and then conversation turned to the other classes of the week, including Neville's successful melting of a cauldron in potions and the all the fun of Blast-Ended Screwts.

"So we haven't missed much then really." Harry joked, causing a round of laughs or amused snorts. He yawned and the gang stood up, "Sorry."

"You'll be out soon." Hermione's eyes were glinting dangerously, "And then we'll badger you incessantly."

"I look forward to it." Harry said with a small grin. "Oh, do I need a guard tonight?"

"You knew?"

"The first night it was Yugi." Harry pointed out, "Yami could sense him."

"Point." Yugi smiled. "It's been me, Ron, Kari, who's up for it tonight?"

"My turn." Joey said, bagging it first. "I finished my homework at lunch."

"Covering it in food in the process." Ron accused.

Joey shrugged, "I'll just copy it over, it's not due in till Monday."

"Night guys." Ombre led the group out, nodding to Professor Dumbledore as they passed him on his way in.

"Mr Wheeler, can I speak to Mr Potter privately for a moment?" The Headmaster asked.

"Yes, sir." Joey wandered further up the ward, giving Madam Pomfrey a hand with some packing away to allow the Professor to talk to Harry semi-privately. The Headmaster couldn't know Yami was in Harry's head, and so couldn't know someone actually was listening in on their conversation.

* * *

"Mr Potter… Harry… I'm glad to see that you're making a full recovery."

"So am I Professor." Harry said, _"Hey Yami, what do you think he wants?"_

' _Dunno.'_ The Pharaoh replied, _'He had to have rushed down here for a reason.'_

"Do you remember what happened?"

" _How much do I tell him?"_ Harry asked the Pharaoh.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked before Yami could answer.

"A Shadow Game." Harry answered, figuring the Professor probably knew that much, "With a Slytherin Student. I won."

"Good, good." Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling.

' _You're not supposed to be in here.'_ Harry heard Yami growl at someone, a moment before he got a blinding headache that passed as quickly as it came.

" _Ow!"_ Harry growled at the Pharaoh.

' _Sorry Harry.'_ Yami's reply was tense and short.

Dumbledore looked surprised and a little angry, "Mr Potter, would you like to explain why Mr Muto is in your head?"

' _Ask him why he was in your head first!'_ Yami growled.

" _Yami!"_ Harry growled, "Yami wants to know why you were in my head, sir." He said reasonably.

"I wanted to check nothing had been damaged or changed by the Shadow Magic."

' _Without your permission?'_ Yami sounded incredulous.

" _Yami, I'm not Yugi, I can't have a conversation in my head and one out loud at the same time, I'm going to get confused in a minute."_ Harry growled. "You could have asked sir," he said out loud, "Yami's been helping me recover faster, offering his own energy and powers to help mine get over the strain of the Shadow Realm faster."

Professor Dumbledore look irritated for a moment, before it was wiped from his face and Harry would have missed it, if he had blinked. "Is it safe? To have two minds in one body, when your soul is complete?" He asked, "After all, Yami shared minds with Yugi, but they are two halves of the same soul. They're supposed to be as one."

"I don't think it's harming me." Harry said, thinking about it, when Yami didn't have an answer, having done it without thinking. "Yami's going to leave the moment I'm strong enough to be on my own again, I'm awake right now, but I'm exhausted. Yami's been giving me some of his energy to keep me awake." Harry thought of something else, "Just because Yugi and Yami are two halves of the same soul, doesn't mean their minds aren't their own and whole. So surely it's no different."

"That be as it may, as your Headmaster, I must insist that all students refrain from possession."

' _Harry, he's trying to distract you.'_

"And as a student, I must object to having my mind read without my permission." Harry replied to Dumbledore, _"Thanks Yami."_

"I was only trying to make sure you were alright." Dumbledore sounded for a moment like a kindly old man.

"Yami said that it's rude to enter someone's mind without permission." Harry retorted, "I've given him permission so he can help me, but you didn't ask."

A moments silence descended as the two wizards stared at each other stubbornly.

"Harry, it's for the greater good."

"No." Harry could sense Yami's growing irritation with the Headmaster.

"When you are feeling better then." The Headmaster rose, "And I expect Yami to be gone by the end of the day."

"Good bye." Harry didn't feel slightly sorry as the Headmaster left, only deciding there and then to go after whatever was in his mind that shouldn't be… bar the Pharaoh now, rather then wait for tonight like they had planned. Joey rejoined them, as Harry dove into his soul room. "What was that headache about?"

"He ran into one of the barrier spells." Yami growled. "I had no idea he could do that."

Harry paused, "Do you think he's been in everyone else's minds?"

"I wish I could say no." Yami growled. "But I don't doubt he's at least tried."

"What did he mean 'for the greater good'?"

"There's obviously something important in your mind." Yami looked around. "Or he's being manipulative again. From a soul room a mind can be manipulated, changed even, and what happens in a Soul Room stays happened."

"So?" Harry didn't quite understand the implications.

"If he can get in here, he can change things about the way you think, or the way you feel, a Soul Room is the very essence of a soul, the personification of everything the person is, why do you think I've been as careful as I have to not disturb anything?"

The implications sank in. "Oh." He paused, "So what does adding a second bed to this room mean?"

"I don't know, but Yugi creates things in his soul room all the time and it doesn't seem to affect him."

"Perhaps it's just the things that appear from nowhere after a good or bad experience that matter." Harry guessed, indicating the Sword of Gryffindor on his bookcase.

Yami nodded, examining the shelving unit, having not actually noticed it before. Harry was surprisingly good at hiding parts of his Soul Room until he was ready to reveal them.

"So, finding that thing that was here before you got here, that shouldn't be here?" Harry asked.

Yami nodded, "Let's deal with it before Dumbledore comes back and demands that I leave."

"What're we looking for?" Harry asked.

"Something that doesn't belong here, an odd object or a strange door, or…" Yami paused, "Can I have full permission to enter your mind? I won't be able to help if you find it and it's still hidden from me." Yami pointed out, "It's not like I'm going to be coming back here once this is over after all."

Harry hesitated, then nodded and the room almost doubled in size, with several more candles lighting up.

"Wow, big."

"Not as big as yours I'd bet."

"Mine is impossible to navigate." Yami growled in self-irritation. "I can't find half the stuff I'm looking for sometimes."

"Is that why you forget things?" Harry teased.

"I don't…" Yami broke off and glared at him.

Harry laughed as he started looking around, "You're getting better, it seems like you're recovering some things on your own. You have more memories then you did when you first got here."

"True, but they don't really add up at the moment, there's too big a gap between them." Yami said, pausing as he came across a plushie of Gold Winged Wolf. "Harry?" He asked.

"Leave it." Harry growled at him, just knowing Yami would tease him about it.

Yami surprised him by not saying a word, but carrying on looking around.

Harry was near the back of the room when he came across the kind of thing he guessed they were looking for. A dark wooded door that felt like it had been here as long as Harry could remember, but didn't tie in with the rest of the room. "Yami…"

The pharaoh came over and frowned as he looked at the door, "How did we miss this?"

Harry reached for the door handle. "Should I?"

Yami nodded, and Harry opened the door. For a moment nothing happened, and then a wave of dark energy waved out through the door and knocked both boys backwards.

"What?" Harry asked, but Yami was already on his feet between Harry and the door.

"I thought something had to be attributing to the darkness in your room and this is it." Yami growled. "Show yourself, you don't belong here."

Harry watched in shock as the most grotesque toddler Harry had ever seen waddled out of the door, staring at both of them. He felt Yami's shadows weave around them in protection but didn't take his eyes off of the creature.

"Who and what are you to be invading the mind of one protected by the Gods of Egypt?" Yami growled, causing Harry to look at him in shock, did Yami realise what he had just said?

The toddler just turned and looked at the Pharaoh, whose shadows weaved around it, testing what it was, and then recoiled as if burnt, just as Yami had. "A soul fragment?" The Pharaoh looked horrified, "Not even a half like me and Yugi."

"A soul fragment?" Harry yelped. "A piece of mine?"

"No." On this Yami seemed completely certain. "You're not welcome inside this young one's mind, leave or I will make you."

"How?" The toddler laughed, "You're no more a part of his mind then I am."

Yami and Harry froze, looked at each other, recognising the tone, and then glared as one at the toddler, "You're a fragment of Voldemort's soul." Yami's tone was low and dangerous. Harry took two steps back, Pharaoh was pissed and you didn't interfere unless he was about to do something really stupid. "When did you make your home here?"

"I've been here longer then he's been protected by your shallow magicks, your highness." The soul fragment was sarcastic, "You can't get rid of me."

"Harry, I'd like your permission to rid your mind of this… this thing…" Yami snarled.

"I want him gone, go right ahead Yami."

"I challenge you." Yami snarled at the soul fragment, "To a Shadow Game."


	7. Where are the Curtains?

Joey was rewriting his homework when Harry sat up and looked around. "Dumbledore been back yet?"

"Nope." Joey said, frowning slightly at Harry's disappointed look. "Why?"

"Because Yami really wants to have a few words with a Headmaster about entering minds without permission and opening the doors for fragments of people's souls to take a hold." Harry sounded amused and annoyed at the same time, taking the Puzzle off and handing it Joey, "Put it on Yami, would you?"

Joey did so and spent the next ten minutes being highly amused by Yami's command of multiple languages and all the things the Pharaoh could think to call the headmaster, at least until he picked up 'Voldemort's soul fragment', then Yami's rage was understandable.

"Is it gone though?"

"Yami sent it to the Shadow Realm and the place it had been hiding in vanished." Harry said with a grin in Yami's direction.

"So you've been possessed?" Joey frowned.

"I don't think so…"

"The door was locked and barred from Harry's side." Yami said, "And it was only a seventh of a soul, if that, Harry would have had to have been practically dead before it could have taken over." Yami growled.

"Didn't Yugi have Voldemort's soul inside him for a few minutes?" Joey frowned.

"We checked him during that summer, Voldemort didn't leave traces behind. I don't even know how he split his soul in the first place." Yami snarled, "It's possible, I know it is, look at Yugi and me, but I don't remember how you'd go about it."

"It would be under different circumstances anyway." Harry pointed out. "You're only half a soul, that was… an eighth? Ninth?"

"No clue." Yami growled, "I actually hope Dumbledore comes back to check if I've left Harry's mind. I'd like a word with him."

"Why?"

"He's a mind reader, Joey."

"Legellimens." Joey offered, "The girls have been researching. The magic for mind reading is Legellimency." Joey paused, "Wait, so you think…?"

"There's no way he couldn't have known about the soul fragment if he was poking around as much as I think he was." Yami growled, "And without the Shadows, I wouldn't have been able to get rid of it."

"Perhaps he just wasn't able to get rid of it before?" Joey hazarded.

"He could have come to us, Joey." Yami growled, "We'd've done something about it sooner."

"Yami calm, it's done now, and you've gotten rid of it."

Yami closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, still annoyed, it was easy to read in his posture, but willing to talk about something else. "Wolf plushie." He said, looking at Harry and grinning evilly.

"Akkk, you promised you wouldn't bring that up!" Harry cringed.

"I said no such thing."

"Wolf plushie?" Joey looked amused.

"Gold Winged Wolf plushie." Yami said.

"I wouldn't say too much about it, Pharaoh." Joey winked at Harry, "Or I might just mention that Dark Magician plushie to Yugi."

"You wouldn't…"

"You wanna bet?"

"Dark Magician plushie?" Harry asked.

"Yeap, looks like Maha…" Joey got a pillow to the face. "Hey, no…" Two pillows to the face. "Fair."

Yami mock glared his best friend, "You swore you wouldn't mention it!"

"To Yugi, I never said I wouldn't use it as blackmail." Joey pointed out, relieved that Yami had run out of pillows.

Sadly he hadn't counted on Harry's aim.

"I'm on your side!"

"Hey, he just got Voldemort out of my head, I'm on his side." Harry pointed out.

Joey blinked… "Harry?"

"Yes?" Harry asked.

Yami snickered, "I think he means to say, he's surprised you're taking sides, you don't usually."

Harry shrugged, "I don't see why I shouldn't." This was followed up by another pillow to the face for Joey.

"Yami, I think you broke something when you were fighting that soul fragment." Joey said, quietly thinking 'please, oh please, oh please, tell me that I won't have to deal with hyper Harry again.'

"No, I think I fixed something." Yami said, with a small smile.

"I'm great Joey, honest." Harry grinned, "I'm just happy."

"Yeah… I remember the last time you said that."

"What?" Harry looked hurt, "You don't believe me?"

"No, you've only said it once before, I believe you."

"Oh."

"Hopefully we'll be seeing more of happy Harry now." Yami said. "Now his mind's his, and his alone."

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just… alright, I know you're both out of pillows, who threw that one?" Joey scowled at the two, who gave him their best innocent looks.

Joey was saved from any more assaults by the arrival of Professor Dumbledore, who looked partially relieved to see Yami awake and active and partially concerned at Harry's actions. "Mr Muto, may I speak to you?"

"You'd have to ask Madam Pomfrey, she hasn't checked us over yet." Yami said, "But yes Sir, you may speak to me, in fact I would like to speak to you."

" _I hope he's not too rude!"_ Harry laughed mentally.

Yami's stunned expression as he looked at Harry made Harry wonder what was wrong. "Harry, don't forget those last locks." Yami said with a confused look on his face.

After a 'quick' once over, Yami followed Professor Dumbledore out and Harry pushed the last locks into place, just as Yami had shown him.

' _Harry?'_ Harry jumped a mile as Yami's voice sounded soft and unsure in his head; as if it wasn't sure it wanted to be heard.

"Harry?" Joey asked, concerned.

"I just…" Harry waved the concern off, _`Yami? Is that you?`_

' _Oh by the Gods…'_ Yami sounded exasperated.

_`Ummm, we couldn't do this before.`_

' _No, no we couldn't.'_

_`How do we turn it off?`_

' _Well normally I'd say taking the Puzzle off, but I'm wearing it.'_

_`You can't think at Yugi when he's not wearing the Puzzle?`_

' _I can but the link's weak, the thoughts don't always reach him.'_

_`Perhaps you need to spend some time in his head.`_

' _Not helpful.'_

_`So, why can we do this now?`_

' _Too much of my magic in your head?'_

_`You don't know, do you?`_

' _No clue.'_

_`I'm going to try something… Yugi?`_

There was no reply.

_`Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi? Yugi?`_

' _Cut it out Harry.'_ Yami growled.

There was a flash of pain down the link, but not from either Harry or Yami and then, _"Harry, how in Ra's name are you in my head?"_ Yugi yelped, audible by both Yami and Harry.

_`Yami's fault. You ok?`_

" _Fell off my chair, do I want to know how you can talk to me mind to mind?"_

' _Yugi, can you hear me?'_ Yami tried.

" _What did you do?"_ Laughter answered him, _"Harry…you really shouldn't be amused about this."_

_`It's just… I get rid of one link and now I have another two.`_

" _Get rid of one link?"_

' _Harry explain please, while I talk to Dumbledore.'_

 _`Ok.`_ Harry paused, ` _Oh, and please don't kill him Yami.`_

" _Why would Yami kill Dumbledore?"_

_`A part of Voldy's soul was in my head, and Dumbles knew it was there, and we think it's Dumbles' fault my mind was so open, and Dumbles can read minds and tried to get into mine.`_

" _I think he tried to get into mine the day of the Shadow Game."_ Yugi hesitated. _"Someone tried to get into my mind and it hurt like hell, I thought it was you Yami, sorry."_

' _Oh, I'm not letting that one go.'_ Yami growled, mentally adding it to his itinerary of things to 'shout' at Dumbledore about.

_`Yugi, how do you stop thoughts from reaching Yami when you're wearing the Puzzle and the link's open?`_

" _You have to think really quietly, like you're whispering."_

 _`Like this?`_ Harry tried, mentally whispering and got no response. ` _Yeay! That works.`_

" _I'm going to come down to the Hospital Wing."_ Yugi sighed, " _This is going to take some getting used to."_

' _You're telling me.'_

* * *

It was hard enough concentrating on the outside world when there was only one person talking in your head, having a three way conversation in your head and a conversation with someone else out loud was incredibly difficult and somehow Yami was surprised at how well he was juggling it, along with his temper as he explained his reasoning to the Headmaster.

At least he kept his temper well until he heard Yugi say _'"I think he tried to get into mine the day of the Shadow Game. Someone tried to get into my mind and it hurt like hell, I thought it was you Yami, sorry."'_

Then he gave the Professor a stern glare and demanded to know exactly what he was playing at, invading his hikari's mind, and spitting out everything else that had been bothering the Pharaoh.

And even more aggravating was that he earned himself three weekends of work in the Forbidden Forest and absolutely no answers except that it was for the 'greater good'.

Yami hated that phrase. So much could be done for the 'greater good' that actually didn't help, and in the end got more people hurt along the way, that he couldn't actually stomach the idea.

Yami couldn't help feeling that Dumbledore had been more aggravated at him for GETTING RID of the soul fragment then he had for the actual possession.

Yami leant against the wall outside the Hospital Wing, just thinking everything over. It had been hard enough when he'd been linked to just one person, Yugi meant everything to him and he hated seeing Yugi hurt or bullied. Would he be that overprotective of Harry now? He hoped not, because it certainly aggravated Yugi often enough when Yami was overprotective that he could imagine Harry's reaction.

 _`Yami, you coming in?`_ Harry laughed in his head, making Yami smile slightly, no matter how complicated the situation had just become.

Joey looked a little frazzled as he looked at Yami, "Ok, so that monster over there," He pointed at Harry, "Has managed to get himself linked to you, right?"

"Yeap." Yami felt just as frazzled. "I don't know how."

"How'd it go?" Harry asked.

"Detention, three weekends of work in the Forbidden Forest." Yami threw up his arms, "And no answers."

"Yami, how?" Joey asked again, looking a little put out.

"Complete and utter accident." Yami said, "Not that I'm complaining…" _'At the moment'_ he thought quietly, "But I wouldn't have done it if I'd had a choice."

"Well it won't be too bad, Hagrid is fairly okay for a detention."

"Not Hagrid. Golden."

"Kari's friend?" Yugi looked surprised. "You've got detention with her?"

Yami nodded, sinking onto a bed.

"Well… it won't be that bad."

"Are we remembering the same girl?"

"She was always nice to me."

"Everyone is nice to you. She did not like me."

"Well you did ask her forty two million questions and her friend was in danger because of us when we first met." Yugi pointed out.

"She fussed over everyone." Joey said, remembering the un-magical t-shirt, "Remember?"

"You still have that t-shirt, don't you?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well… is it still un-magical?"

"As far as I know… why?"

"Why did she call it un-magical? I mean she's magical, so why did she de-magic the t-shirt?"

"I think the question would be, how do you de-magic a t-shirt?"

"It was a t-shirt, I doubt it had any magic to begin with."

"Have you seen Kaiba Corps clothes? They all have a scary amount of magic."

"I'm almost afraid to ask how you know this."

Harry looked confused and without thinking Yugi sent him a memory of the event. Then paused, realising exactly what he'd done. "Ummm. Oops."

"For some reason, Kaiba Corp attracts magic." Yami said, wondering exactly what the issue was.

Harry blinked, "So, strange person."

"Very much so."

"Even by our standards."

"Yugi." Harry said, still confused, "Give me a warning before you do that again please."

"Do what?"

"I sent Harry a memory of the event without thinking." Yugi winced.

"No more sugar?" Harry asked, in Japanese.

Joey rolled his eyes, "This is going to take some getting used to, and for some odd reason I just stopped feeling left out. I don't think I'd want three people in my head, swapping memories."

"There would be four in your head if you were linked to us as well." Yami pointed out, "Or aren't you in there very often?"

This earned the Pharaoh a pillow to the face from Joey and it quietly dissolved into a pillow fight, until Madam Pomfrey caught them and kicked Yami, Joey and Yugi out.

' _Goodnight Harry.'_

" _Night Harry."_

 _`Goodnight Yugi, Yami.`_ And as Harry drifted off to sleep, the big, lonely Hospital Wing, didn't feel quite as lonely.

* * *

Harry was released to the care of his friends the next morning, joining them in time for breakfast. By this time the entire gang knew the details, having been filled in during their morning practise by an irate Yami.

There wasn't much talking going on, the gang was too tired from training and too busy wondering what this new development meant for them.

Joey caught Yami's arm as the Pharaoh reached the door.

"Joey?"

"Yami… I… I want you to teach me."

"Huh?" Yami asked, confused.

"You taught Harry how to defend his mind, right?"

"I showed him the spells and helped him cast them, yes." Yami nodded.

"Can you show me?"

Yami frowned, "I…"

" _Yami?"_

 _`Everything ok?`_ Yugi and Harry asked, Yami looked over his shoulder to see that they had paused at the bottom of the stairs.

' _It's ok, we'll meet you in class.'_ Yami assured them and they nodded and carried on up. He turned back to Joey, "I don't know if it's safe, you know what happened when I helped Harry with the spells."

Joey paused at that, "Never mind, it was a stupid idea."

"No, it wasn't." Yami reassured him, "There just has to be a better way of doing it." Yami smiled at his friend as they head upstairs. "We'll just have to find it."

 _`You're going to be late.`_ Harry giggled in Yami's head, making Yami sigh in exasperation.

"They're enjoying this way too much, aren't they?" Joey said, guessing what was going on.

"Harry says we're going to be late if we don't hurry up." Yami replied with a roll of his eyes. The two headed on up to class, discussing mental defences and oblivious to the fact someone was listening in.

* * *

Yami waited in the great hall with a fair bit of impatience. Weekend detentions were always the worse, and he had six days with the unpredictable Robyn Golden.

When she appeared moments later, Yami stared. He had expected to see her dressed as a witch, not as a… well he had never seen someone dressed as Miss Golden was this moment.

Dull dark green trousers, heavy red-brown boots, a combat green army shirt, and a heavy looking coat.

She also had more pockets than he had ever seen on a person, and most of them looked full.

"Okay, first thing first, go get changed out of those clothes, you'll want a light t-shirt, and some leggings, then put these on top." She said handing over a cloth bag. "Since you won't have any walking boots, go put on a pair of sensible footwear that won't be hurt by a bit of mud."

Yami stared at her.

"I expect you back down here in twenty minutes, shoo."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Yami was hoping no one would see him.

Plastic like orange waterproofs covered his leggings, and a neon yellow coat, which was far heavier than any piece of clothing should be.

Then Robyn smiled at him when she saw him. She pulled straight the coat, and zipped it up, pulling the hood over his hair. Two minutes of fussing later, while Robyn had tied, zipped, clicked, and who knows what else, him into the jacket, including pulling out a pair of thick leathery gloves from the sleeves, that he hadn't even realised were there.

"Okay, now you're as ready for field work involving magical insects as clothes can make a man. Remember if anything attacks you, and I do mean anything, shout for help."

"What will I be doing?" Yami said, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice.

He failed.

"Well first, we'll be setting up some traps, such as honey traps, pit fall traps, status traps, and then we'll check the ones I've already set up. A break for lunch, then you can help me set up the moth tent."

"I've never done any of that before."

"Huh, I was under the impression you broke for lunch every day."

Yami felt his face flare red. "I meant everything else." He hissed.

"Wow, and I though going through fourteen for the third time would bring some maturity."

Yami growled.

"Relax, I'm not asking you to conquer the world, we'll leave that up to Yugi, all you'll will be doing is digging some holes, setting up some containers, and then helping me empty the ones I set last week, while listening to me monologging about why I'm doing this."

"What!?" Was Yami's startled cry, as Robyn shooed him out the door and into the forest.

"It won't be that bad, it'll help in your potion lessons if you know more about the insects."

"Yugi's going to conquer the world?"

"Probably not, but you never know. Bakura definitely isn't going to any time soon. I think he's going soft in his young age."

Help. Yami thought as he tried to untangle Robyn's words.

Only to be lightly twatted over the head.

"No talkie on the mind link during detention. You might attract dragons."

Yami tried to glare, really he did, but either Robyn ignored it or his early morning confusion was lasting longer than he thought.

"Have you managed to find a nice pair of blinds yet?"

Or it could just be Robyn.

"I got gifted with a rather nasty set; I mean I'm all for keeping people out of my business, but la mort is probably not the best way. And I feel sorry for your poor guardian, I mean, who would want the burden of unseen sight."

Yes, it was probably Robyn.

* * *

In the weeks that followed, the amount of time they had to themselves seemed to decrease in direct proportion to the increase of the difficulty of classes. Professor Moody had shocked them all when he'd announced that he was going to be using the Imperius Curse on each of them, to test their ability to break the control someone had over you, and to feel what it felt like, causing Hermione to protest and Joey to nearly walk out.

It was only Hermione's curiosity and Yugi's support that held the two in the lesson as one by one Professor Moody beckoned them forward to cast the curse on them.

' _I don't like this.'_ Yami growled, after his turn was over, having failed to break the Professor's control on his mind and climbed up on the table, singing a Christmas Carol. _'That spell even gets through MY defences.'_

" _Hermione's right, this is illegal."_ Yugi returned as he stepped forward. _"But it's the best way to learn how to break a spell, by being put under it."_

 _`We don't have a choice if we want to pass the… what the hell was that?`_ Harry asked as Moody cast the spell and was blasted backwards by a flash of purple energy.

"Shit." Joey rushed over to help Moody to his feet.

"Language Mr Wheeler." Moody said, turning to look at Yugi, "And Puzzle off please Mr Muto."

Yugi looked at Yami, then handed the Puzzle to the Pharaoh, before turning back to Moody. "Well that's good to know." Yugi said after spending a couple of minutes, tap dancing around the room.

"What?"

"That the Puzzle objects that strongly to the Imperius Curse." Yugi said, settling back at his desk as Joey was called up.

The teen clenched his fists as Moody waved his wand.

"Joey's nervous?" Ron asked.

"Marik." Yami growled.

"Oh."

"Imperio!"

Joey froze as Moody called "Climb on a desk and sing the Japanese National Anthem."

There was nothing, no movement from Joey or sound, which had the group frowning since everyone else had started following orders almost immediately.

"Climb on a desk and sing the Japanese National Anthem." Moody growled.

Yugi, who'd reclaimed the Puzzle when he'd come back to his desk, sent out a wave of magic that weaved around Joey.

" _He's fighting it."_ Yugi told his two linked friends.

Moody managed to get all of about a bar out of Joey before he finally gave up. "Look at that!" Moody sounded amused, "Wheeler fought it! Fought it and damn near beat it!"

Joey left the classroom, without his bag, slamming the door on his way out.

"Permission to go after him?" Yugi quickly asked the Professor.

"Granted, but neither of you are excused from the homework."

Yugi left quickly, packing up his and Joey's stuff and following his friend.

_`I knew Joey hated mind control…`_

' _How much did we tell you about when Joey was under Marik's mind control?'_

_`That Yugi and Joey fought each other and Yugi threw the duel.`_

' _I'll explain later.'_ Yami growled as Harry stepped up.

* * *

"Joey!"

The blonde in question sighed and stopped as his small friend caught up with him on his route to the Monster's Wing, which had once been full of monsters and now only served as the entrance to the Purple Eyes Silver Dragons' homes and was the perfect place to go if you wanted to be alone to think things over. "You ok?" Yugi asked, concerned.

"No." Joey said bluntly, "I'm not."

"You fought it," Yugi tried to reassure his friend, "You were winning too."

"That's not the point Yuge." Joey's voice echoed down the empty corridor. Joey shuddered as he leant against a wall, "It's just…" Visions of the death duel passed through Joey's mind.

"I know, Joey." Yugi sighed, currently thinking the same thoughts, "But we have to do everything we can to stop it possibly ever happening again."

"I can't." Joey shook his head, "I can't do that again."

Yugi's shoulders sank as he tried to think things though, "I don't think Moody will excuse you from class because of Marik, if anything he'll think it's a better reason to keep putting the Imperius on you, at least until you can shrug it off easily."

"I know, I know." Joey growled, running a hand through his hair, "But I can't Yuge, I just can't…"

"Easy Joey." Yugi bit his bottom lip, still thinking, "I've got your stuff, you don't have to go back today, and hopefully he won't do it again next lesson."

"This is Moody." Joey growled, "He'll keep doing it until all of us can throw it off!"

"Pineapple." Yugi said to the door to the Monster's Wing, causing it to swing open and admit them, before swinging shut behind them again. "Do you want to see if a Millennium Item would protect you?" Yugi asked, deadly seriously, as Joey slumped onto a table and Yugi sat in the windowsill.

"I'd have to beat you for them to work for me, wouldn't I?"

"You already did once." Yugi pointed out. "To recover your Red Eyes from us."

"I dunno Yuge, sounds dangerous."

"Probably is, but it's the only thing I can think of to keep Moody out of your head. Yami couldn't fight it at all."

"That's worrying." Joey frowned, "I'd have thought that he'd be immune with his mind like it is."

"Unfortunately it doesn't look that way, and I was only safe while I was wearing the Puzzle."

Joey chewed on his bottom lip, "I wouldn't want the Millennium Rod." He said finally, "And I'm not sticking the Millennium Eye in one of my eye sockets, and the Puzzle's yours…"

"That leaves the Necklace." Yugi said, rooting around in his bag, "I just hope it doesn't give you any visions." He said as he handed it over.

Joey laughed, "It's one of the tamer items, besides you've beaten me like thirty eight million times over by now, it probably won't work for me."

"It's worth trying though and you can hide it under your robes." Yugi said as Joey did up the fiddly clasp and hid it under his robes so it couldn't be seen. _"Yami? Harry?"_

' _Not now.'_ Yugi frowned at Yami's short and tense reply, wondering he was disturbing. _'Joey's shouldn't come back. Moody saw Harry could fight the curse and is trying to get him to throw it off completely.'_

Joey saw Yugi's look turn stormy. "Trouble?"

"You were right about Moody." Yugi frowned, "Harry can fight it too."

Joey's hand went to the golden item under his robes, "It's a little weird."

"You tend to stop noticing them after a while." Yugi said, "Don't let me forget to tell Yami that you have one."

Joey just shrugged, "At least it's the last lesson of the day too."

"Feeling hungry?" Yugi asked.

"Little bit." Joey said, spreading his arms wide, making Yugi giggle.

' _Class is over, where are you two?'_

" _Monster's Wing."_

_`Joey ok?`_

" _Fine."_

' _Oh.'_ Yami paused, _'We'll meet you up there.'_

" _K."_

* * *

It was Sunday of the third weekend of Yami's detention with Miss Golden and the gang were sprawled around the lake, homework out and attention divided between the various books.

Harry and Yugi were unsuccessfully trying to block out Yami's continual monologue.

Apparently Robyn was making him check honey traps again. Between the creepy crawlies and Robyn's confusing conversation, he wasn't having a good time of it.

"You know." Harry said out loud to avoid being heard by Yami, "You'd have thought that having been a Pharaoh and all, a few bugs wouldn't bother him."

"Desert." Yugi pointed out, "Scarab beetles, locusts, not too many bugs of the creepy crawly verity."

"I think it's more the fact that Robyn is making sure he knows how to id them, and talking about their uses in potions and vision quests." Harry said.

"Is he still complaining?" Joey laughed.

"Are you sure you don't want to have my link to them?" Harry asked, "I'll give it to you!"

"No thanks." Joey laughed, "No wonder you used to be so distracted all the time Yuge," Joey laughed, "If he complains this much on a regular basis."

Yugi just flipped him off, going back to his Divination homework in time to hear Yami yelp, _'It bit me!'_

Harry's laughter complimented Yugi's sigh.

"How did you deal with this in normal school?" Harry wanted to know, "It's almost impossible to focus when someone's ranting in your head!"

"Practise, lots and lots of it." Yugi sighed, "That and Yami wasn't complaining quite this much."

' _No, no, no, no, no. I don't care that it can clarify memories; I am not eating one of those live.'_

Harry burst into laughter again.

" _Even if it helps?"_ Yugi asked.

' _Don't you start. Ahhhh! Fire ants! What're fire ants doing here?'_ There was silence for a moment, then, _'Owww. Robyn's back. Better stop now.'_

"Thank you!" Harry looked at the heavens before turning back to him homework.

Yugi just sighed and hit his head with his Divination text book before finding his page again and getting on with the work.

Hermione looked up from her ancient book, "Doesn't anyone else think it's weird that Robyn can hear you speaking to each other?"

"We never really thought about it." Yugi said, giving up on the homework and turning to the bushy haired teen. "When we first met her, we had other things to worry about and we haven't seen her much since."

"It does mean that Yami can't complain at us too much, because she docked points last time she caught him." Harry said gratefully.

"I didn't know she was a witch." Kari said, "I knew she had secrets, but she used to trust me with everything she could and I accepted that she had things she couldn't tell me, like I had things I couldn't tell her. Somehow I'm not surprised she can hear mind to mind thoughts."

"So… is she using Legellimency?"

Yugi shook his head, "You didn't see how angry she got when she found out Xuan was using it."

"So how?"

"She could be sensitive to the thoughts of the world around her, I mean you have to practically bellow at each other to pass thoughts along, don't you?"

"It's not that bad." Harry shook his head, "More like a normal conversation."

"No one else at Hogwarts can hear them talking." Joey pointed out.

"It was only an idea."

"It was a good idea." Ombre assured the bushy haired witch who was glaring at Joey.

"So she can hear any mind to mind link?" Ron asked, flicking at the grass, bored.

"It certainly seems like it." Kari nodded, "She can hear Yugi, Yami and Harry and she can hear me and Ombre so…" She paused, "Don't you have homework to do?"

"According to Yami, she keeps answering his comments before he makes them."

"So maybe she can hear minds?"

"It's a possibility." Kari was now glaring at Ron who sighed and got out his Defense textbook. "I've been trying to speak to her since term started but she keeps avoiding me."

Yugi frowned, "Well it would be difficult to catch someone who sees the future out."

"I'm not trying to catch her out, I want to talk to her." Kari growled.

' _Robyn requests that you kindly stop discussing her now.'_

 _`But we weren't even thinking at you!`_ Harry yelped.

' _She's threatening to drag me into the lake to find some mud skippers if you don't.'_

" _Is she aware you can't swim?"_

' _And she also says she has an excellent recipe for mud skipper pie, which could easily replace all deserts for the next week.'_

" _Shutting up."_ Yugi looked at his friends, "Please stop talking about Robyn, she's threatening to drown Yami and replace all the deserts for the week with mud skipper pie."

"A little extreme don't you think?" Joey asked, giving him an incredulous look.

"Can we please not risk it?" Kari asked.

' _Oh great, we've found some gillyweed.'_ Yami sounded ever so enthusiastic.

" _Gilly_ weed?" Yugi asked aloud and in his mind for the benefit of his friends who couldn't hear the conversation.

' _She says to ask Neville. Apparently it's useful for catching mud skippers,"_ There was a pause, _'Or finding lost friends?'_ Yami sounded very confused at the latter. _'Help! Please help! It's bad enough listening to Trelawny's warnings, or Shadi's warnings, please save me! Oww…'_

 _`I think you deserved that.`_ Harry laughed.

"Have we lost any friends recently?"

"Not since the summer." Hermione scowled at the group who'd vanished and Joey gulped.

"But we did find them again." Harry pointed out.

' _Oh, and someone mark off Astia as someplace never to go. Oww…'_

" _Why?"_

' _Something about giant fire breathing wasps."_

" _Stop talking to us and concentrate on what you're doing."_ Yugi scolded.

' _But it's water, I hate water, especially when it goes over my head, Yugi, please don't make me.'_

" _I'm not the one taking your detention, and I don't think she means to torture you."_

' _Oh…'_ Yami paused again, _'Yeay! We're not going too far out.'_ There was another pause, _'I'm coated in mud… I'm going to sink into it and you're never see me again...'_

_`Over exaggerating much?` Harry asked._

' _Oh goody, water fleas, what is a water flea? Do I want to know? No, I don't think so.'_

" _Yami!"_ Yugi sounded irritated.

' _Sorry…'_ Yami was silent again for a few minutes, then, _'There's something trying to eat my leg!'_

" _It's mud!"_

' _There's slimy slithery worms and oh no! They're spitting acid at the glass container and it's melting!'_

"I'm going to melt him at this rate." Yugi growled.

' _Help! I'm sinking, I'm sinking! I can't move!'_ Yami cried, _'I'm in quick mud.'_

_`There's no such thing as…`_

'… _Phew, I'm being dragged away from the lake.'_ Yami sighed in relief, _'Yugi… I'm coated in mud… And now I'm being laughed at…'_

Harry saw Yugi twitch visibly, _`Yami, I'd cut it out. I think Yugi's going to blow.`_

' _What?'_ Yami sounded worried and then, _'Oh… oops… sorry.'_

" _You keep saying that and you keep going."_ Yugi complained.

' _Yes! I'm free! Free!'_ Yami cheered.

" _Finally!"_ Yugi sighed in relief. "Yami'll be here in a minute." He told the others.

When Yami did appear, the others took one look at him and burst out laughing.

"You are coated!" Ron laughed, "She got you worse then Tea!"

Dark mud covered the Pharaoh from his foot to his waist and only his front had escaped, even his hair had a fair bit of mud in it.

"I know." Yami growled. "I'm going to have a shower. Then I'll be back."

"Well, that was an interesting detention." Harry said sarcastically, "Including running commentary."

"I don't think he was supposed to do that."

' _Yugi?'_

" _Gah!"_ Yugi slammed the link shut, surprised Harry didn't have a headache too.

' _Did I do something to annoy him?'_ Yami asked Harry, who was busy poking the dead link, never having been cut off like that before.

 _`Let's just say if moaning was an Olympic Sport, you'd get a gold.`_ Harry answered before returning to poking the link, this time adding, _`Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi.`_

' _He can't hear you, he's shut us out.'_ Yami sighed, _'And that's irritating.'_

 _`Really?`_ Harry asked. _`Good. Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, Yugi…`_

" _Harry! Shut it!"_ Yugi snapped.

' _You're evil.'_ Yami said once the shock of Yugi snapping passed, having forgotten that they hadn't quite gotten the nack of closing the door to Harry yet.

_`And you've spent the greater part of the day irritating us.`_

' _Sorry?'_

_`Doesn't mean much when you've said it 49 times in one day.`_

' _You over exaggerate.'_

_`No, I counted.`_

' _Oh.'_

 _`That's why Yugi was so irritated`_ Harry paused, _`I think.`_

There was a welcome silence until Yami returned, clean and reasonably tidy for a Sunday, in which time Yugi finally managed to get his homework done and was now led on his back, watching the clouds go by.

"Yugi, I wanted to apologise for being an idiot." Yami said aloud.

The hikari didn't roll over to look at him.

"I didn't think before I continued my ranting, even when you sounded irritated, and I feel really guilty about it."

Still nothing.

"Yugi?"

"I believe this is called the 'silent treatment'." Joey advised. "A fitting punishment considering you've been talking Yugi and Harry's ears off all day."

Yami slumped onto the grass, pulling out a book and was about three pages into the assigned chapter when something hit him on the nose.

He looked around sharply, but everyone was exactly where they had been…

So he turned back to his book.

This time something bounced off of his nose, causing him to glare at the group in general.

No one had moved.

Yami turned back to his book, but Hermione was giggling as something else bounced off his nose. Yami snatched it up from where it had fallen to find it was a piece of paper.

"Guys!" Yami sighed at them, plaintively.

No response.

So he went back to reading, keeping an eye out and, when he saw the next bit coming, he managed to catch a glimpse of who was flicking them at him. "Yugi?"

The Heir stuck his tongue out at the Pharaoh.

"Very mature, Yuge." Joey advised.

Yugi shrugged, "You. Me. Duel. Now." Yugi said, giving the Pharaoh a stern look.

Yami looked confused but got to his feet, enlarging his Duel Disk. "God Cards?" He asked, knowing Yugi had them.

"No." Yugi shook his head.

 _What's he up to?_ Joey wondered.

There was a tense moment as the duel started, but then they noticed how much Yugi was unwinding and started enjoying the two highly skilled Duellists battle each other with everything they had.

As Yugi wiped out the last of Yami's points, the last of his irritation slipped away and Harry felt the link open up again but didn't dare say anything in case he closed it again.

"Feeling better?" Kari asked.

"Yeap." Yugi grinned at Yami, who wasn't quite sure how he'd lost that one.

"I… how many turns ahead did you plan that one?" Yami asked.

"Seven, you're no fun to duel when you're tired." Yugi complained, "You don't see things coming."

Considering Joey couldn't defeat Yami on a bad day, post Shadow Game, with about two hours of sleep, he began to appreciate, more then ever, Yugi's skill and brains. The guy was incredibly smart… when he bothered to apply himself… and that was the problem, things just didn't hold his attention like games did.

"Kari?" Hermione asked, "Now everyone's here?"

Kari looked around, tallying heads, "No, we're one short, where's Seto?"

"He said he'd be down later, he had a book he wanted to get out of the library." Mokuba said.

"We'll wait." Hermione said, intriguing everyone.

Finally they were joined by the CEO, who settled next to his brother, book in hand.

"Ok." Kari said, catching everyone's attention. "Hermione and I have been working on something, I'm sure you're aware of that."

The Gryffindors nodded.

"Hermione?" Kari asked.

Hermione pulled something out from underneath her robes, a small, black disk on a leather cord.

"We were thinking about the summer and the Quidditch World Cup, when we got separated and couldn't find each other." Hermione explained, "And we came up with an idea."

"It's from an old potion's book we found right on the back shelves, just before the Restricted Section." Kari said, revealing one of her own. "About a locater spell that can pin point the direction of someone in need."

"Watch." Hermione lifted it up and spoke clearly, "Help me."

Kari's lit up in response, a small parchment brown arrow pointing towards Hermione.

"We made enough for everyone." Kari said, "You can use them as locators too, but we didn't quite get the potion it had to be doused in right and while it calls for help, it doesn't do the locating too well."

"Why not wait then?" Ron asked as Hermione handed him one and went around the group, handing out one each.

"We can't get a hold of the potions ingredients again." Kari growled, "We had to get special permission to order them in the first place."

"How does it work?" Yami asked, examining his disk, which showed a glowing red arrow for a moment before going completely blank again.

"The potion has a couple of ingredients that mean they resonate off of each other at great distances, like a magical version of a distress beacon." Hermione answered, "We researched it thoroughly before we tried it." She said, handing the last one to Seto, who gazed at it as it gained a glowing almost white arrow and went blank.

"The arrow colour is determined by something in the person that's wearing it and when you call for help, the arrow that appears should be in the caller's colour."

"How much did you spend on these?" Joey asked, appreciating his even if his arrow was a reddish grey.

"Ummm…" Kari and Hermione looked at each other and didn't say a word.

"Thank you." Yugi said, tying the cord and being careful not to tangle it with the chain of the Millennium Puzzle.

"Can I get a hand here Yuge?" Joey asked, trying not to tangle the much shorter chain of the Millennium Necklace with the cord.

"You could probably take that off now." Yami said, "Moody doesn't seem to have been so curse happy recently."

"Perhaps someone complained to the board."

"Do you think that would stop Moody?"

"Dunno."

"Kari… any idea why Robyn seems obsessed with blinds?"

"Blinds? Not really… what did she say?"

"She asked if I'd found a set yet."

"Didn't she ask you about that during the Xuan thing?" Yugi frowned, "Something about blinds and windows…"

"And she keeps asking?" A nod. "Then you missed one of her warnings."

"Well if she spoke straight instead of in riddles…"

"She wouldn't be Robyn."

"We don't own any windows, why would we need blinds?"

Above their heads, the clouds formed into a Blue Eyes White Dragon for just a few moments, but Kari was the only one who saw it, everyone else was too busy thinking about the riddle.

"There is normally a reason to her warnings." Kari said, "Or there always used to be."

"Okay then, why does she feel sorry for my Guardian? Whoever that may be."

"I dunno, Joey is Yugi's bodyguard." Ron said, without thinking.

"Hey!" Yugi protested. "Who says I need one?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Yuge."

Kari frowned, "Normally if she tells you she feels sorry for someone, it's because you've done something rather stupid that's caused danger or harm to someone."

"But we haven't done anything to anyone." Yami frowned, "We didn't even Game Draco for what he did to Harry."

"You know what I meant, Joey." Yugi said, "Not that I don't trust you with my life but…"

"Well… normally it's something you can fix, so you must have done something." Kari looked confused.

"But wouldn't we have noticed causing harm or danger to someone?"

Kari winced, old grief flickering across her face, "Not always."

"Kari…" Ombre moved to the woman's side as she slumped back into the grass, trying not to think about it.

"I'm ok."

"Are we going to have to add 'ok' to the list of things to watch out for, like 'oops' and 'fine'?" Joey asked.

Yami slumped. "So I have to find blinds for a pair of windows I don't have and undo whatever damage I've caused."

"Wait… a pair of windows?"

"Uh huh."

"Eyes, you idiot." Kaiba glared at him, "She was talking about eyes, eyes are the windows to the soul!"

"Oh."

"How do I keep losing to you if you're this much of a moron?" Kaiba growled.

"Hey!"

"So… I need blinds for my eyes… why?"

"Okay, where's Yami, cause you can't be him, he's never this slow." Joey growled, pointing his wand in Yami's direction.

"I'm tired."

"That's not a good excuse." Seto growled, also pointing his wand at the Pharaoh.

"If you'd been feed a millipede you'd be this slow too, I'm trying very hard not to think."

Kari laughed, "Never trust food Robyn gives you, didn't I tell you that?"

"Apparently it was good for me."

"If it makes you this slow?" Joey snorted, "I have to say she was wrong."

"She used to use that excuse on me too."

"Legellimency." Hermione said with an amused sigh, shaking her head at the look Yami was giving her best friend, "Needs eye contact."

And the pieces clicked into place. "Oh… I forgot that…"

"Yami!" The exasperated growl came from the entire group.

There was a pause and then Ron couldn't help but ask, "What did she say the millipede did?"

"Something about increasing metal defences, then she started going on about something called a rubix cube and making it so there's too many colours to see the true picture."

Yugi snorted, "This is a rubix cube." He sent Yami the image and Harry caught a flash of it before it went away again. "It's a puzzle where you have to try to match up the colours so they're all on one side."

Kari laughed again, "I think she was getting fed up with trying to get you to find a set of blinds."

"And what does that have to do with mental defences?"

"If the enemy has to sort through to get the image he's looking for, then you have longer to boot him out of your mind before he does any harm." Yugi said, now seriously concerned over the mental health of his dark half, since it should have been obvious, "You sure you're alright?"

"Apart from feeling like my head is in about twenty different places in time and space, I'm fine."

"Eek!" Kari yelped, "He said fine, get Madam Pomfrey!"

The group dissolved into laughter and Yugi relaxed slightly, still concerned, "Any idea when it'll wear off?"

Yami blinked, "You know… I think she said something about an antidote… if I'm translating Robyn speak correctly."

"Well, what is it?" Joey asked, "'Cause dopey Yami isn't much fun."

"Pink on toast?"

"You're kidding me."

"No… she defiantly said something about pink on toast."

"Wasn't pink on toast just before the food fight?" Yugi asked, wondering where exactly they could get some.

"Kiwi." Yami grinned, remembering the look on Kaiba's face.

"Shut it." Seto growled.

"Yami, I think we should go and get you the antidote before you get any worse." Yugi said, trying to forestall a fight he could see coming and wasn't sure Yami could win in his current state.

"But the green sparklers are declaring war on the drapes, can't I watch?"

"She's made him crazy…er." Ron growled.

"It'll be fine, just have to wait for owl prime time."

On that note Yugi and Joey looked at each other, dragged Yami to his feet and marched him up to the castle.

On his way past, Yami, with a dazed look on his face, patted Harry on the head, "Good wolfie."

They heard Joey mutter something as they got further away from the group.

"But I don't like cinnamon!" They could hear Yami protesting at whatever Joey had just said.

"I'm going to find Robyn." Kari said, standing up, "She shouldn't be feeding people things that make them that loopy."

"Wouldn't the mediwing be better?"

"No ducks!"

Kari just shook her head at that loud complaint and stalked off in the direction Yami had joined them from the first time when he'd been covered in mud, Ombre in tow.

"Well that was unexpected." Robyn commented, after hearing Kari's explanation, "I thought I told Yami to go eat right away."

"So what's the antidote?"

"Antidote?"

"You know, to stop Yami acting like a Robyn on a high?" Ombre growled.

"The elves are serving it for dinner today, why else would I tell Yami to go eat."

"They're serving it for dinner?"

"No, they are serving dinner, Yami just had too many trains docking at once."

"Err… what?"

"Misdirection. Lots of places to visit and not a clue where to end the journey."

"So, stopping the loopyness?"

"Stick to the one train so there isn't a tangle up at the station, silly."

"And the quick way?"

"Eat something and get rid of the gold blinds, they aren't really helping."

"Robyn, tell us how we fix Yami now."

"Oh, I don't think he'll like that, poor little puppy."

"Robyn."

Robyn sighed, "This shouldn't have happened. Something has changed. Something has interfered. A puzzle in a puzzle box where pieces fell through the cracks, and now all the pieces come flying back, but dragons don't like their treasures being stolen, so many minds all listening in, and poor little darkness hearing them all, but never you mind, the solution becomes clear, avoid the flames, but never you mind, all becomes found once again."

Kari and Ombre stared, "Well, that's as clear as mud."

"Then tell the wolf and the glowbug to be quiet for once."

"Robyn Golden, you've harmed my friend, and the real Robyn would never do such a thing." Kari sounded stern, but sad too.

"Then listen well, I did not harm your friend."

"Then what did you do?"

"The spider watches and waits, looking in all the windows and yet no one does a thing! The gold objects but cannot help, and the shadows scream for blood. I merely let the darkness keep out the light, for the darkness is needed against the night, and minds will shatter if nothing's done, but still they come and come, broken and in pieces and puzzling to boot, so shut your eyes and dream your life away. I can not do more then I have done."

The slap was unexpected and the three young women stare in shock.

"Dream he shall, dream of unending night, dream of dreams soon to be true and dreams that lie in hope and despair, but fine he is and shall be for now, just lost in dreams of old."

"Robyn…"

"Rebuild he must, time grows ever shorter. Before this year is out, he will have need of those walls. Go now, I have no more words for you."

"But…" Ombre started.

"No, Ombre." Kari said, giving her old friend a sad look, "We need to go tell Harry not to use the mind link for a while. The wolf, right?" Kari smiled sadly, though it wasn't a question, "Take care Robyn." She said, before turning away.

"Hikari…"

"Come on."


	8. Three by Three

October 30th, at 6pm, the first of the other two competing school arrived at Hogwarts.

Beauxbatons, the French participant, arrived in a flying coach with huge horses that looked absolutely terrifying. Their headmistress was almost as big as Hagrid and warmly accepted Dumbledore's welcome.

Durmstrang, the Bulgarian participant, arrived in a ship that suddenly appeared in the Hogwarts lake, rising up as if rising from the bottom of the lake. Their Headmaster didn't waste much time, too concerned with getting his star attraction inside out of the cold.

That star attraction, was one Viktor Krum.

Ron was having a fan boy moment, reminding his professionally Duelling friends why they weren't sorry to be away from all of that, when Dumbledore stood up to talk during he huge feast that was held.

"Welcome Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, to Hogwarts." He said, smiling at both groups, who were sat with the Slytherins and Ravenclaws respectively, Ludo Bagman and Mr Crouch having joined the staff table for some reason.

Dumbledore went on to reiterate just how dangerous the Tournament would be, that he would be putting an age line down to prevent anyone who was under age from entering, and then he revealed it.

The Goblet of Fire.

It was completely unremarkable, except for the blue white flames that danced inside it.

If you wanted to enter, you were to put your name in it, by this time tomorrow, and, at the Halloween feast, the names would be chosen by the Goblet and those people would be bound, magically, to compete.

The school dispersed, the gang gathering at the back of the common room and looking at each other.

"I'm entering." Kari said firmly.

"I would if I could, but if Dumbledore's putting an age line up, I couldn't get to it." Ron growled.

"I'm happy to cheer on whoever gets picked." Harry said.

"I'm going for it." Joey said.

"Not me." Yugi shook his head, "I don't think I know enough yet."

"I'll go for it if the Weasley twins can get across the age line with their aging potion." Yami said, "If not I guess I'll cheer on whoever's picked for Hogwarts."

The gang were there at lunch time on Halloween, when Angelina, Cedric, Joey and Kari all put their names in, to the applause of the school. Fred and George were sporting the most fantastical beards, longer in fact then Dumbledore's, because of their failure to trick the age line, so Yami was sulking but cheering along with everyone else.

It was Saturday, meaning that it was lakeside day, but no one really felt like going out there, since it was cold and with the Durmstrang boat there, it didn't really feel like their spot. Oh they still trained in the morning, but the greater portion of the day was spent watching to see who put their name into the Goblet.

So they were already seated when the rest of the school and their guests arrived, for the Halloween feast and the picking of the names.

Everyone was impatient, and the food, while up to Hogwarts standards, as always, was picked at until Professor Dumbledore had finished his meal, when everyone turned to look at him.

"I estimate it will take another minute and then we will find out who the champions are." Dumbledore said, "I would ask them to come to the top of the hall, walk along the staff table and enter the next chamber, where they will be receiving their next instructions."

Joey and Kari sat up, as did Angelina, Cedric and a couple of seventh year Slytherins as Dumbledore waved his wand and put out all the candles in the hall, the bright bluey white flames of the goblet the only light in the room.

Suddenly the flames turned red and spat out a charred piece of parchment which the Headmaster caught and held at arm's length to read by the fire light. "The Champion for Hogwarts, is Viktor Krum!"

A round of cheering swept the room as Krum stood up from the Slytherin table, and entered the other room. The clapping died down as everyone turned back to the Goblet.

The flames turned red again, the second piece of parchment falling easily into Dumbledore's hand. "The Champion for Beauxbatons, is Fleur Delacour!"

"It's her!" Ron grinned, standing up and cheering as the girl that resembled a veela, who his female friends had ignored and his male friends had stared at quite a bit, stood up and left the room, sweeping gracefully past the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.

When silence had fallen again, the Goblet went red for the last time, spitting out the name of the Hogwarts Champion.

"The Hogwarts Champoin," Dumbledore said, knowing the hall was waiting with baited breath, "Is Kari Ironhide!"

"Yes!" Half the group cheered as the hall roared, the age pendants the worst kept secret in Hogwarts history. Kari grinned and turned to Joey.

"Sorry."

Joey shrugged, "Go."

Kari grinned and vanished into the other room, and Dumbledore had to wait quite a long time before he could be heard again, "Well, our Champions have been chosen, I hope I can trust you all to support…" He trailed off as the Goblet went red again and spat out another name.

There was a horrendously long pause, then Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Harry Potter."

"What?" Yugi yelped.

 _`No, no, I didn't put my name in!`_ Harry's thought reached down the link.

Everyone had turned to stare at their group, "We were here all day, Harry didn't put his name in!" Ombre protested.

"None the less, Harry, if you could join the other Champions." Dumbledore said, frowning.

' _Kari, Harry's coming through.'_

" _What?"_ The hikari sounded incredulous, _"But we have the three champions, Harry didn't even put his name in!"_

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked. Harry rose from the table to murmurs from the students and joined Kari, Fleur and Viktor.

"This can't be right." Yami called above the murmurs of the crowd, "Harry's been with us since the Goblet came out, he can't have put his name in!"

 _`What do I do?`_ Harry asked, on his way down to the second chamber.

' _We're finding out.'_ Yami reassured him, _'Just stick with Kari.'_

_`K.`_

"Are you certain of this?" Dumbledore asked.

"One hundred percent, Harry couldn't have entered without one of us knowing." Yami said, hoping that his reasoning would spread around the school.

Joey heard someone wonder out loud if they'd put his name in.

"Neither the less, Mr Potter's name came out of the cup and he must compete."

"Why?" Yugi asked, worried for his friend.

"It's a magically binding ceremony." Dumbledore explained as it they were the children they were pretending to be, "Once your name comes out, you have to compete."

' _Shit.'_

 _`What?`_ Harry sounded frightened and confused, Yami wasn't surprised.

' _It's magically binding, you're in this Tournament as much as Kari is now.'_

 _`But I don't want to be!`_ Harry protested. Yami wished his protest could be heard across the hall.

"I have to ask if any of your put his name in." Dumbledore accused over the noise and the hall went silent to hear their answer.

"We don't endanger friends." Yugi answered for them, "Only Kari and Joey entered from our group, they didn't even put Yami's name in and he's more suited to the Tournament."

The murmurs started again and Yugi wondered how many students believed him.

Dumbledore frowned at their group and then left through the door the Champions had.

* * *

"Harry was Ombre serious?" Kari hissed as she ran over to the door, "Did your name come out of the Cup?"

Harry nodded and listened as Kari started cursing the world in general in English, French, Japanese and Ancient Egyptian.

"Excuse-moi." Fleur looked confused. "But what iz going on?"

"Harry's name came out of the Cup for some reason."

"What, but he iz a little boy!"

Harry wasn't sure whether to feel insulted or not.

"Haha, veery funny joke, Miss Ironhide." Krum said, frowning at her.

"I wish I was joking." Kari growled, "Harry, you do know that neither I nor Joey put your name in right?"

"You'd've put Ron and Yami's names in too." Harry nodded.

The teachers, Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch arrived in the room in the middle of an argument.

"Professor Dumbledore." Kari planted herself in a position that was in front of Dumbledore, but that shielded Harry, "This cannot be allowed, Harry did not enter of his own free will."

Professor McGongall, who knew the girl well wasn't surprised at her outburst, but the other Head teachers, Bagman and Crouch were stunned at her rudeness.

"I'm afraid, Miss Ironhide." Dumbledore said, having expected her outburst. "That be that as that may, Harry is as bound to the rules of the Tournament as you are."

"But…" Kari frowned, _"That's not fair…"_

' _Wizards don't have to be.'_ Ombre replied.

"You can't be serious Dumbledore, neither of the Hogwarts Champions should be competing." Professor Karkarkroff, the Durmstrang Headmaster, said, glaring at the pair.

"Actually Miss Ironhide is a transfer student from Japan." Dumbledore said, "Who is easily of age for the Tournament. Miss Ironhide, if you please."

Kari took off her de-aging charm, returning herself to her natural age of almost 21, "I'm only a Fourth Year Student, but I'm of age."

"I was unaware that Japanese school took them so late, Dumblydore." Madam Maxine said, looking the young woman over, "Is she not too old?"

"No, there is no upper age limit and Miss Ironhide received no formal magical training prior to entering Hogwarts, she has all the skills of a fresh fourth year and whatever she's researched in her own time and that is it." Dumbledore said, "I'm sure you'll agree that makes up for the age advantage she has over your students."

"I suppose." Karkaroff still looked angry though as Kari put her charm back on. "But what about Potter? She could have put his name in!"

"I didn't and neither did anyone else in our group!" Kari snapped at the Headmaster, "We like our friends alive, thank you!" She turned to Mr Crouch, "What do the rules say exactly?"

"That everyone whose name comes out of the Goblet of Fire, is magically bound to compete."

"And what if they refuse?" Kari asked.

"Their wand is snapped and they're expelled from the magical world."

Kari's stubborn stance slipped, throwing an apologetic look over her shoulder at Harry. The young man just frowned at her.

"I insist on resubmitting the names of my students." Karkaroff said loudly. An ugly scowl on his face now, "And we'll pick another Champion so both schools have two."

"It doesn't work like that, and the Goblet just went out." Bagman said, "It won't light again until the next Tournament."

"In which Durmstrang certainly won't be competing!" Karkaroff growled, "I have half a mind to leave now!"

"You can't." Moody smirked, "Your Champion is as bound as Potter is. Convenient hey?"

The adults dissolved into an argument as Kari turned to the other Champions, "I'm Kari Ironhide." She held out her hand.

"Viktor Krum." Krum took her hand and kissed it, making the young woman blush, "You're really only a fourth year?"

"Yes," Kari nodded, "We were accepted late and wear these so we fit in a little better." She indicated her charm.

"Fleur Delacour." Fleur shook her hand as Krum shook Harry's. "Thank you for trying to enzure fair play."

"It's the least I could do. No offence Harry, but I'm not particularly happy with you being in the Tournament."

"Neither am I!" Harry said, shaking Fleur's hand.

Suddenly the arguing group turned around, "Instructions." Crouch said firmly. "The first task is to test your daring, so you're not being informed what it is." He went on to give the date of the task and mention that courage was necessary in the face of the unknown. Then he spoke with Dumbledore for a while and left.

The other Head teachers left the room with their students and once it was just the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall in the room with them, he turned to them again. "I did not wish to mention it in front of the other Headteachers, but you will not be allowed to use your mind links during the tasks, or it will be classed as cheating."

"We don't cheat." Kari said firmly, "Right Harry?"

Harry nodded.

"You won't be able to use your Millennium Item during the tasks."

"Ok."

"And you will not be able to help Harry prepare for the tasks."

"What?"

"It's in the rules." Dumbledore pointed out.

"Sorry Harry." Kari frowned, unhappily.

"Now, I'm sure Gryffindor has a party planned, courtesy of Messers Weasley, I suggest you go and find your friends."

"Yes Professor." Kari led Harry out.

"Kari…"

"I know Harry, we'll work something out." Kari smiled at him, "I don't see what the problem is with passing information along to the right people." She winked.

Harry grinned, relived, "Come on, lets see what the others have to say."

The party was in full swing and just ready for the guests of honour when they arrived, and it took them an hour to tell everyone who wanted to congratulate them that Harry hadn't entered of his own accord and to get up to the Boy's Dorm, where the noise could still be heard but the gang had gathered to think things through and get a plan.

"So…?" Ombre asked, locking the door to prevent them being burst in on.

"I'm not allowed to help Harry prepare, we also can't use the mind links, and I cannot use the Millennium Orb." Kari said.

"Rules or…?"

"Rules."

"There're rules for the Millennium Items?"

"No, I think it's because it's outside magic, not taught at the school so it's an unfair advantage."

"How did you do it?" Ron said suddenly, glowering at Harry.

"What?" Harry asked as the group turned as one to frown at the young man.

"How did you get your name in? Even Yami couldn't!"

"Not you too!" Harry growled, "I didn't put my name in Ron!"

"You must of done, because none of us did!" Ron snapped back, "And it's unfair of you not to put my name in at the same time! Or at least tell me how you did it!"

"I DIDN'T!"

"You don't have to lie either, everyone knows you're not getting into trouble for it. A thousand gallon prize, and you don't have to take end of year exams either."

"Ron, how could he have put his name in? He was with us the whole time." Yami said, his voice low and causing Yugi, Harry and Joey too look at him, half afraid he was going to do something to Ron for being unreasonable.

"He could have put his name in last night, when we were asleep."

"What, when Joey and I have been having nightmares for the last couple of nights and waking up in the middle of the night?" Yugi asked, "I don't think so."

"I'm not surprised that you believe him." Ron snarled at Yugi, "He's probably lying to you over that mind link now!"

"I'm not…"

"Ronald." Yami said, very calmly and in the tone of voice that had had more then one villain wanting to flee from him, "Harry is not speaking to us over the mind link right now, if anything, all I can sense is fear, confusion and hurt at your actions, now, I suggest you apologize."

"How do you know he didn't lie to you earlier?" Ron asked, backing up a step, but not backing down. "He had to put his name in because none of you did!"

"Ron!" Joey snapped at him, "How dare you…"

"Oh yeah, take his side why don't you, 'cause it's never Harry's fault."

"Ron. Leave. Now." Ombre snapped.

"No, it's my dorm. I don't have to."

"Enough." Harry growled, "I have had more then enough of this trash Ron." And with a poisonous glare, he turned and stalked out of the dorm, and then straight out of Gryffindor Tower.

"Well done." Kari snarled at Ron and chased after him, Ombre in tow.

"Go away Ironhide, I want to be alone."

"Since when was I Ironhide?" Kari asked, "Isn't it enough that we believe you? Ron hasn't been right in the head since we got back from America!"

"Go away."

"No."

Harry glared at her in impotent anger.

"Miss Ironhide, I suggest you go back to your dorm. Mr Potter, come with me." Robyn stepped out of wherever she had been hiding to.

"Robyn, I'm not going anywhere."

"It is Miss Golden, or did you forget?" Grey eyes stared at her, "Then again you never did listen to me, did you Miss Ironhide? Back to your dorm before I deduct points."

"Ok Rob…" She paused and sighed, "Yes Miss Golden."

"Mr Potter, follow me." She said as she stepped away, then when out of Kari's earshot, mutter, "Idiot girl."

Harry said nothing, not entirely sure how to take this witch who had once been Kari's friend.

"Tea? Or would you prefer coffee or hot chocolate?" Miss Golden said as she opened a door.

"Tea's fine. Thanks…" Harry said uncertainly.

The room appeared to be a small living room, blue chairs, blueish coffee table, navy carpet.

"You might as well call me Robyn, all your friends have been."

"You poisoned Yami."

"No, but that explanation can wait another day. Sit down." She said, waving at a chair, while she set up a pot of tea. "I understand you have a fair amount of gifts. Not that any amount of gifts make up for your troubles, but life is life. And one of those gifts is an unusual amount of enemies."

"Deatheaters." Harry growled.

"Yes and more. Sometimes I think the light has given up, but there you are. We can only hope we play our cards right."

Harry sighed, "I didn't put my name in the Goblet."

"And in that you prove yourself much more sensible than Kari."

"It kills, doesn't it?"

"I'm glad you know this." She handed over a mug of tea, the warmth curling around Harry's hands as he stared into the liquid.

"Why?"

She sighed, curling up in her seat. "Such a difficult question. I do not know. Why now? Why this? Why you?" She snorted, "Because wizards are fools, and believe themselves so very powerful, they often do not see death waiting for them, or if they do it is with unholy terror. There are so few children, and yet they try to kill off the best and brightest. I do not understand, and yet, I understand all too well."

"Why does Ron hate me?"

"Does Kari hate me?"

"I don't think so."

"But she never listens. I try and I try, but she never listens." Another sigh. Robyn pulled something small that chimes out of her robes. "If you don't want to go back tonight, this is the key to the room opposite. I'll tell your head of house what happened." She said, dropping the small bell shaped key into his lap.

"Thanks." Harry said gruffly.

"Sometimes it's best to let tempers cool first."

* * *

"I don't think she knows how often I tried to reach her." Kari and Ombre had returned to the Gryffindor Tower, only to retreat to the girls dorms, with Kari slumped onto her bed and burying her face in her pillow, if only to absorb the tears. "She hates me."

"But why?" Hermione sounded confused, "I thought you were best friends."

"We were, but then I moved to Japan, looking for work… and escaping some of my past… and I kept in touch by letter and e-mail but she stopped replying just after Christmas a few years ago, when I got this." Kari held up the Orb, "I know she gave it to me, but we just stopped talking. I never got any replies to my letters… she just dropped me. I don't know if it was something I did, or whether she moved or what…" Ombre put her hand on her hikari's back and was concerned to feel the silent sobs wracking her body. "I can't… I can't take it… I thought I found her… after so long… and now…"

Ombre felt Kari's soul tearing, torn by the fact that the one person she'd always had to rely on, no matter how bad things got, even more trusted then Ombre, was no longer there to rely on.

"Kari…"

"She was… she is…" The woman fell into uncontrollable sobs.

"Easy hikari." Ombre murmured, unsure of what to say, but unable to do anything to repair the hole she could sense in her hikari's heart.

* * *

It was Sunday and they were just catching their breath from their morning run when Professor McGonagall came running down from the school, pausing only long enough to catch her breath before practically ordering Harry back up to the school and of course the concerned group of friends, minus one Ronald Weasley who had determinedly refused to join them this morning, had, of course, followed.

Since she'd turned around and said that it was probably better that they had was incredibly worrying since the last time she'd said this, Kari, Hermione and Seto had been in the hospital wing after being petrified.

Leaving them in the corridor, in dew soaked muggle clothing, she took Harry up to see Professor Dumbledore alone; promising that if anyone had anything to say about the lot of them, they could tell whoever it was to see her personally.

This only served to worry the group further, especially when combined with the fact that Harry was up there a good hour, meaning that they were missing breakfast, and when he did come down, he was incredibly pale and their Head of House recommended taking him somewhere where he wouldn't be crowded and that she would make sure food was brought up to them.

They crowded into the lounge of the Monster's Wing, Harry sinking into one of the sofas and staring blindly out the open window, where the morning sky was beginning to take on a tinge of incredibly pale blue, a good indicator of just how cold it was out there.

"Harry?" Yugi asked, more worried then most, since Harry hadn't even said anything over the link and Yugi was picking up nothing but shock from him. "Harry, what's happened?"

"Is it… Sirius?" Ombre asked quietly, her hikari sat on the window ledge and watching the door like a hawk, not that anyone but the gang, Bakura or the Headmaster knew the new password to the wing.

"No…" Harry just about managed.

"Then what is it?" Joey asked, frowning.

"Dur…" Harry went silent again, just shaking his head.

"What?"

"The Dursleys?" Hermione asked, "Something's happened to them, right?"

Harry just nodded. "Dead."

"What?" The gang looked at each other, they'd hated them for their treatment of their friend, but they hadn't wished them dead.

"Their house was attacked last night." Harry said as Kari moved to Harry's side. He'd hated his family as much as his friends had, but they had been just that, family.

"Who?" Yami growled.

"Who do you think?" Harry asked, aware of the supporting hand on his shoulder from Joey and that Kari was holding his hand, offering her strength. Harry had forgotten that she knew about losing family, even if the circumstances were different. "Dudley's alive. I suppose I'll see him at the…" Another hitch in Harry's voice, "I suppose they'll sort out where's we're to go after…"

"You could stay with us." Yami and Yugi offered without having to think about it.

Harry didn't reply, knowing his friend's offers were sincere, but knowing that Dumbledore would never allow him to move to Japan and that Dudley couldn't move there even if he was allowed. How would the Muggle survive in such an odd household? Especially when everyone there was magical?

"Did Dumbledore say how?" Kaiba asked, Mokuba clinging to one side, and stood just behind them were Mokuba's girls, Ginny, Rebecca and Luna, all of whom had taken to following them down in the mornings to train with them.

"Because I left." Harry said, closing his eyes and clenching his hands, releasing them as he heard Kari's hiss of pain and giving her an apologetic look because he'd forgotten she was holding one of them. "There were spells on the house to prevent attacks. They fell because I wasn't around long enough and the wards didn't get recharged."

Silent, guilty looks were exchanged by Yugi, Yami and Joey.

" _Harry… We're sorry."_

' _Harry…We're sorry.'_

Yami and Yugi said over the link, echoing each other's apology.

 _`Just… stay out of my head for a while… please…`_ Harry trailed off, grief and guilt washing down the link and hitting the yami and hikari hard.

"It's not your fault Harry." Kari murmured, "You couldn't know. You did the right thing in going to America."

"I…" Harry just trailed off again.

Two House Elves popped in, depositing trays with enough food for them all on, onto the table, before popping back out again. Kari looked at Hermione to see if she was going to say something, but it didn't look like their appearance had permeated through the young teen's shock.

None of them were particularly sorry, after all Harry wouldn't have been returning to the Dursleys this Summer anyway, now that Sirius had custody, but it was still a shock.

"Harry, listen to me." Kari said firmly, "There was nothing you could have done differently."

"But…"

"Just follow me right?" She said, "The wards need you to be there to recharge, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Now, was there any reason, you could see, to think they were in danger?"

Harry shook his head. "Not when I wasn't there…"

"Were lives at risk if you didn't leave and help the guys?"

Harry nodded, confusion showing through.

"Did the Dursleys want you there?"

"No."

"Did the gang need and want you with them?"

"Yes." Joey answered for the teen, making Harry give him a startled look.

"See." Kari said, "It was the right thing to do." She paused, "What kind of an idiot casts wards that depend on someone's presence for a few months, anyway?"

"Dumbledore." Yami said, as if that explained everything.

Unfortunately he was right.

"Wards don't work well on non magical households." Hermione said with a frown, "There's just not enough magic in the area to sustain it. It could have failed at any point."

"Further proof that our Headmaster is an idiot." Seto growled. "That's basic, wards and shields 101, that's why champions in the olden times had to be wizards."

"Huh?" Joey looked confused.

"Champions, that roamed the lands back before magical creatures were hidden and slew them had to be wizards, otherwise shielding charms didn't stick." Seto said.

"Why would you even know that?" Joey asked.

"Some of us read." Seto said, scowling at Joey.

"Don't start fighting." Yami growled.

Harry would have welcomed the fighting, something normal to have grounded him in this impossible situation.

Hermione and Kari were whispering about something, and turned to the group, "We're going to head to the…"

"Library." Harry finished dully.

"We won't be long, we just want to look something up." Hermione said, "Then we'll be right back."

There was a round of nods and the two girls vanished from the wing.

"If they haven't read the entire library between them by now, I'd be very surprised." Yami sighed, taking Kari's place on the window sill.

"Twice." Joey snorted, "At least."

Silence fell again, there wasn't really anything anyone could say and while Seto vanished for a while, it was only long enough to get his laptop and the girls were back with a rather large book on magical laws each before the House Elves were back with lunch, taking the mostly untouched breakfast things with them.

Yami, from his perch, watched their group, and wondered about their relationships. He and Kaiba were rivals, that much remained the same from when he'd first woken up, but so much was different since then.

Yugi was writing his letter to Tea, filling in their friend, who was studying in America, on everything that had happened overnight, paper on his knees, chewing the end of his pen. That wouldn't have been possible nearly seven years ago, for him to be able to observe his hikari like this. Yami hadn't even been sure how to take spirit form back then.

Joey hadn't moved too far from Harry, just being a supportive pillar. This wasn't new, but the maturity and sense Joey was showing was certainly something he'd picked up over the years.

In some ways Kaiba hadn't changed much, still obsessed with work and games, and trying to defeat them. But a lot had changed with the young CEO, he interacted with them a lot more, gave them helping hands, considered the best way to help them… this had been a couple of years in the making and had been happening slowly anyway. But once Kari had saved his life it had gotten a kick start.

Mokuba was often found with his girls, Ginny, Luna and, thankfully, Rebecca, either studying, or playing games, or just hanging out, right now the four of them had gone into the Purple Eyes Silver Dragons' part of the wing and it sounded like they were talking with the dragons, who were mostly Duel Monsters, but it seemed that they weren't quite. Yami didn't understand how it worked and could only guess that being born in the human world, rather then the Duel Monster one had done something unexpected.

They were without Tea and Tristan, and he knew that sometimes Yugi missed them as much as he did, but Tea was doing well and had become a professional dancer, while Tristan was working security around the Duelling Circuit, keeping an eye out for 'things that happen without a logical explanation'. Hired due to his close proximity to 'The Crazy' in other tournaments, and because he was a known fan of the game.

Hermione had changed too, the shy young teen, a real bookworm, had settled into their group really well, becoming more outgoing and friendly as time had gone on. She was engrossed in a rather thick book which from the look she was giving it, either wasn't giving her the answers she needed, or she didn't like the look of the answers.

To her left was Kari, also engrossed in a book. She didn't live for work as much, but something had changed in Kari recently, since the stint over the summer when she'd tried to hold Kaiba Corp up under a lot of stress and fallen to pieces because of it. They'd finally gotten her back on track with eating and sleeping, with her own magic recovering quickly once that had been established, but she didn't seem so bouncy anymore and sometimes it was like the fight had been knocked out of her.

Yami was hoping the Triwizard Tournament would give some of it back.

Ombre was busy with something or another, she'd been playing with her deck in a corner of the room and then sighed and packed it away, and currently it looked like she was falling asleep.

Harry was still in shock, Yami couldn't blame him. Harry was the most changed out of the lot of them, especially since the Shadow Game with that soul fragment that had evicted Voldemort out of his mind. Yami aimed his glare for the evil wizard out of the window, away from his friends. He'd been so careful during that game to not mess up anything in Harry's mind, but with the soul fragment gone, Harry's mind had become lighter, and they could see the changes in Harry's day to day attitude and personality.

They were good changes, but they were still changes.

Yugi sighed, put down his pen and joined his dark on the windowsill. "I'm going to talk to Ron." Yugi said quietly enough for Yami to hear, but not so loudly he disturbed anyone else.

"Why?"

"He needs to know something's happened, even if he was an idiot last night."

"Alright." Yami nodded, "If he's being sane again, tell him where we are."

Yugi nodded and slipped out of the room.

Yami sighed as, simultaneously, Hermione and Kari turned pages, wondering what the girls were up to this time, but half afraid to ask in case it involved worms or millipedes. He'd had quite enough of those, thank you very much.

* * *

"Ron!"

Ron paused midstep, remembered he was supposed to be angry with the person calling him and carried on.

"Ron!" Yugi caught up to him and walked alongside him until he caught his breath.

"What do you want Yugi?"

Yugi paused and fell back a step at Ron's tone, before recovering and catching up again, "It's Harry…"

"Isn't it always?" Ron growled.

"Ron, it's serious…"

"More serious then vanishing off the face of the Earth? Or nearly getting killed? Or getting into the Triwizard Tournament without entering?" Ron snorted, "I'm not interested."

"Harry's Aunt and Uncle are dead Ron."

"So?"

"So? Aren't you even slightly worried about Harry in all this?"

"Why should I be? He has Sirius."

Yugi looked at him in shock and disbelief, "Ron…" Yugi shivered, "I don't think I can be friends with you any more."

"Good, I never asked you to be in the first place." Ron scowled at him, "You're always there for Harry, you never take my ideas seriously, you never tell me anything, you're forever going off without me…"

"That's not true. I listen to your ideas, it wasn't my fault we fell out of contact over the summer, you wanted to go home for the summer and we don't have your telephone number…" Yugi shook his head.

"You could have tried Yugi."

"I had my soul stolen!" Yugi protested, "How could I write letters when I was in coma?"

Ron glared at him, "And what about the others?"

"Is this what this is all about? You being left out over the summer?" Yugi asked, astounded, "There was so much going on that the guys didn't have time to…"

"You had time to get Harry." Ron growled, "And it's not just this summer, you've left me out of things before, I bet you had this planned. To get Harry into the Tournament without telling me, just to make me look stupid…"

"If that's want you want to think Ron, go ahead, I'm not going to argue with you." Yugi said, before walking away.

* * *

Harry had never been to a funeral before, not that he remembered. He might have gone to his parents, or maybe his parents had taken him to others. He didn't think so, from what he knew of babies, you didn't take them to funerals.

He was glad that part of Duke's shopping spree had included an almost muggle suit. Smart black trousers and a dark shirt made him look different from his normally messy appearance.

He was met by Dudley outside. His cousin dressed uncomfortably in a tux too small for him.

They didn't say a word, but walked in together, Aunt Marge hovering over the both of them, much to Harry's displeasure.

He'd been allowed a couple of days off school, in the care of his Godfather, Sirius, to come down from Hogwarts and attend, but as he sat down in the front row, he wondered exactly what he was doing here.

Vernon and Petunia Dursley had been his Aunt and Uncle, true, but why was it, that he felt nothing but shock at their passing?

Was it delayed grief? Or was it that they'd ceased to be family a long time ago, and that his family were in fact waiting to give him their support upon his return to school?

The vicar spoke. There was very little to say about the good things they'd done. Aunt Marge said a few words, mostly about how good and kind they had been to take in her delinquent nephew. Other then that, there didn't seem to be anything particularly good to say about them and even those few words had been more lies then Harry could stomache.

Then it hit him. That was just it. The Durlseys hadn't been good people in life, they hadn't helped people in need, they hadn't been there for anyone but themselves and they weren't missed by anyone but family, except the neighbours, who wondered who would be moving into the house next and hoping their son wasn't a bully.

It was over more quickly then Harry would have thought, he guessed it was because there was so little to say about them, and they filed out again, where Sirius was waiting for him, in a smart looking, black, muggle suit.

There were few who stopped for the wake, food and talk were both scarce and not many people came to offer their condolences. Harry wasn't sure he wanted them.

"What happens to you now?" He found himself asking Dudley as his cousin pushed the food around his plate.

"Aunt Marge can't take me." Dudley shrugged.

"Is there anyone else?"

"No." The food was now an unidentified mess.

Harry took a bite, frowned and dropped his fork. Either the food was horrible or the funeral had put him off of it. "What about school? Isn't there anyone there you could live with?"

"No."

Harry wondered how Dudley's school life was. If Harry asked, he would be allowed to live with any of his friends… Dudley had no one. "So…where?"

"Orphanage, I suppose, or Foster Care."

Harry shivered, having heard the horror stories about Seto Kaiba's foster father, and remembered the tales his aunt and uncle had told of those places.

"What about you?" Dudley looked up. "I saw the man you came in with. He's your Godfather, ain't he?"

"Yeah. Sirius… he's okay."

"I suppose we won't see each other again."

"Would you want to?"

"I dunno."

"At least you can go back to school, right?"

"No." Dudley shrugged again, "Not enough money to pay for it."

Harry sighed. "Look, I'll talk to Sirius, he might be able to do something, alight?"

"Yeah, thanks Harry." Dudley said quietly and despondently.

Silence fell again, and Harry found himself wondering if Rai's funeral had been like this, or whether there had been good things to say about the young man, whether people other then family had cared.

Harry quickly walked over to where Sirius was trying to look inconspicuous, by the buffet.

"Ready to go pronglet?" Sirius asked, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

"In a moment. Do you know what's going to happen to Dudley?"

"No. I can find out, that Aunt of his probably knows." So Sirius Black took over. Later that night Harry would probably be banging his head, why had he wanted a caring guardian in the first place?

Oh well, Dumbledore at least should be happy, he was still going to live with a blood relation.

Wait until the gang heard about this…


	9. The Press is the Source of All Evil

It was weird, being back in class after the madness of the last week.

It was difficult to read the attitudes of the school around them, the Gryffindors, or the greater majority of them at least, were on the gang's side, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs seemed firmly divided between those who supported the gang and those who didn't believe that Kari or Joey hadn't put Harry's name in the Goblet.

Of course there was no question of whose side the Slytherins were on, they had spent the last week and a bit making the gang's life miserable.

But then, this was nothing new.

If anything, the worst lesson they'd had so far was double potions, which Harry had escaped last week, but had been hellish for the others, since the Slytherins had seemed determined to make the whole group pay for the audacity of having two of their number in the Triwizard Tournament.

Kari, Ombre and Hermione joined the group late outside potions, having been in the library all lunchtime and carrying a couple of large books that wouldn't fit in their bags.

The badges were back out in force. Harry hadn't really noticed them last week, but they were rather more difficult to ignorewhen Malfoy proudly showed off the new message.

Kari wasn't sure whether she was glad or annoyed that the Slytherins had left her off completely, but had noted that Ron was stood over with Dean and Seamus and while he wasn't laughing at the collective Slytherin pressing of badges so they all flashed 'Potter stinks!', he wasn't sticking up for Harry either.

"Very funny." Joey was growling, glaring at them.

"You want one, Wheeler?" Malfoy asked, not stupid enough to come close, "It's free."

"Shut it Malfoy." Yami snapped.

"You can have one too, Muto, there's plenty for everyone, even Granger, but you'd better come and get it, I wouldn't want any Mudbloods sliming it up…" Draco paused and turned to Yugi, offering them, "So you should take them."

Yami's growl echoed down the corridor, but before he could do anything, Yugi had batted the tray out of Draco's hands and drawn his wand. Yugi had limits when I came to his friends and Draco had pushed them way too far.

"Try it, Yugi." Bakura had drawn his wand and was pointing at the hikari.

' _Yugi…'_

"Yuge…" Joey growled, wanting just as much to do something drastic to Draco, but knowing just how much trouble Yugi would be in if he was caught.

Yugi's eyes flickered away from Draco for a moment, to Bakura's, who held his gaze.

In that moment Draco had his wand out, "Incen…"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry had reacted faster then the others, Malfoy's wand flying down the corridor.

"Furnunculus!" Joey growled.

"Densaugeo!" Bakura countered, the two beams of light ricocheting off of each other and hitting Goyle and Hermione in the faces, just in time for Snape to arrive.

After demanding to know what had happened, sending Goyle to the hospital wing, insulting Hermione, causing her to flee and taking points from Gryffindor for the... rather interesting things he'd been called by the gang, the gang sat, quietly at the back of the class, trying not to say or do anything that could possibly get them into any more trouble, though what they really wanted to do was take their cauldrons and beat Bakura, Draco and Snape around the head with them until they started acting like rational human beings, or were unconscious, whichever came first.

"Antidotes." Snape said, looking around, his eyes glittering unpleasantly, "You should all have had time to prepare your recipes by now and…" There was a knock on the door.

It was Colin Creevey, who walked up to Snape's deck at the front of the room, "Excuse me sir, I've come to take Kari Ironhide and Harry Potter upstairs."

"Potter and Ironhide have another hour of potions to complete." Snape said, glaring at them as if it was their faults, "They will come upstairs when their class is finished."

"But Mr Bagman wants them. All the champions have to go. I think it's for photos or something."

"Great." Kari moaned, "The Press."

Snape smiled at Kari's complaint, it looked unpleasant on his face and Kari just knew she'd said the wrong thing, "Very well, very well, Ironhide, Potter, leave your things here, I want you back here to test your antidotes."

"Please sir, they're supposed to take their bags with them." Squeaked Colin, "All the Champions…"

"Very well." Snapped Snape, "Take your bags and get out of my sight."

Harry and Kari looked at each other, then at the others, shrugged, picked up their bags and followed Colin out.

Colin's inane banter kept their mind off of things as they headed upstairs for a much unwanted photo shoot, pausing outside the right door as Colin dashed down the corridor after a hasty good luck.

"Harry, don't say anything to any reporters when you're on your own," Kari said, having had experience with them before, "If they're as bad as the press back home, they're excellent at twisting words to gain sympathy or create trouble."

"Thanks for the warning." Harry said, knocking on the door.

It was small classroom, with a photo shoot area already set up. Kari half bowed to the other two Champions who both nodded back as Harry nodded to them. There were five chairs set out, where Ludo Bagman was sat, talking to a witch neither of them recognised in magenta robes.

Kari went over to talk to Fleur, who the camera man was watching and Bagman's face lit up when he saw them, "Ah good, the other two Champions. Harry, Kari, come on in, nothing to worry about, it's just the Wand Weighing Ceremony, you know. The other judges will be here in a minute."

"Wand weighing?" Harry repeated nervously.

"We just have to test that your wands are fully functional, no problems. They are your greatest tools after all."

Harry saw Kari pull out her silver and sphinx wing feather wand, examining it and giving it a quick polish with her robes.

"And this is Rita Skeeter, she's with the Daily Prophet, doing a small piece about the Triwizard Tournament."

"Maybe not that small a piece." She said. Kari noted her tone and the way she was looking at Harry and came back to her friend's side. "I was wondering if I may have a private word with Harry about the Tournament, you know, being the youngest champion and all, add a bit of colour to the piece."

"I'm sorry Miss Skeeter." Kari interrupted before Bagman could give his acceptance, "But we've already agreed that because of the controversial nature of Harry's being forced into this Tournament, he will not be speaking to the press on his own."

She found herself under a scrutinising gaze from the reporter, who smirked at her.

"Very wise." Bagman nodded, though he looked slightly put out.

Kari glared at Skeeter, her best you-are-the-press-and-hense-you-are-evil-leave-us- alone glare and dragged Harry over to the corner where she continued her conversation with Fleur, translating for Harry.

Skeeter looked amused and started writing something anyway.

It wasn't long before Professor Dumbledore entered the classroom, followed by Mr Crouch, Madam Maxime and Professor Karkaroff, who sat in the chairs, finally followed in by Mr Olivander, who was introduced by the Headmaster, and the Champions moved to one side as Fleur was called up.

"Hmmm." Olivander twirled the wand in his hands, causing pink sparks to fly from the end, then he held it close and examined it, "Nine and a half inches…" He almost muttered to himself, "Inflexible… and containing…"

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela." Fleur sounded quite proud, "One of my Grandmuzzer's."

"I knew it." Kari grinned, "She is part veela!"

Olivander mentioned he'd never used veela hair, because it made for temperamental wands, and cast a spell that made a bunch of flowers spring from the wand tip before calling Kari forward.

"I remember this wand, you bought this one from me, but it's not one of my creations." Olivander said, noting the silver sparks flying from the end as he twirled it, "Silver, eleven inches, with Sphinx wing feather core."

"Has never let me down yet." Kari said.

"Well kept too." He noted, watching the light reflect off of the metal, sending silver smoke rings across the room with it before handing it back and calling Krum forward.

"A Gregorovitch creation, yes?" He asked, and Krum nodded, though it was more a comment then a question, "Hornbeam and dragon heartstring, quite rigid, thicker then one usually sees… Avis!" A number of small, twittering birds flew out of the window. "Good… that leaves Mr Potter."

Krum nodded to him as he passed and handed over his wand.

"Ahhh yes, I remember this wand well." Olivander's eyes were gleaming, "Yes, yes, yes, how I remember…" Harry severely hoped that Olivander wouldn't mention why he remembered it, he hadn't even told Yami, who had shared head space with him for a week about the fact that his wand and Voldemort's had cores from the same Phoenix.

Luckily Olivander didn't say much more, taking slightly longer over Harry's then anyone else's but handing it back after making a fountain of wine shoot out of it.

"Thank you all, you may return to classes…" Dumbledore said, "Or maybe you should go to dinner since class will be finished soon."

Unfortunatly they didn't get away that quickly, as Bagman called for photos and then Kari had to contend with Skeeter, who kept pulling Harry to the front of the group, even though the four champions were supposed to be equal in importance, and then she asked for shots of each of the Champions on their own.

When they were finally released for dinner, they sank into empty seats next to their friends, where Harry was happy to listen to Kari rant about Skeeter and how she hated the press and how it didn't seem to matter if they were English, Japanese, Magical or Muggle, they were all the same.

 _`What's Kaiba up to?`_ Harry asked, watching Seto get up from his seat and walk over.

"Miss Ironhide, may I have a word?" Seto asked, in the formal manner that Yami had seen him take only when dealing with business partners.

"You may, but you're my boss. You don't have to ask." Kari replied, confused.

"As I'm sure you are aware, a required item for this year's school supplies is dress robes. I cannot think of any reason for this except that there will be a formal dance later on this year, and I would be grateful if you would accompany me."

Kari took a moment to process his request, then nodded, "Yes, Mr Kaiba, I will. But only if you call me Kari."

"Certainly Kari." Seto half bowed, "If you will call me Seto. Until the ball, may I be your escort on any Hogsmead trips that may be between then and now?"

Kari smiled, Kaiba was certainly trying to do this properly, probably figuring that it was better to get to know a girl properly before he took her on a date, rather then asking someone randomly at the last moment. "It would be my pleasure to have your company on the Hogsmead trips, Seto." She nodded back.

"Then I will see you at Training tomorrow morning."

Kari nodded and Kaiba gave Yami and Joey a brief smirk before he left the Great Hall and their group exploded in noise.

"SHUT! UP!" Kari finally bellowed over the noise.

There was silence.

"Surely you figured something was up when you saw dress robes on the list. Noa made me go out to the best dress maker's in Tokyo when I told him about it."

"We didn't really think about it, we were a little too concerned with getting off of the island, and then out of jail, and then we kind of…"

"Forgot?" Kari laughed. "Well, I suggest you think about it, because when the notices go up a lot of girls will be asked quickly and you'll miss out."

With that, she grinned at Ombre and Hermione and they left.

"Guys. Strategy meeting. Now." Joey demanded, grabbing Yugi and Harry and pulling them to the Common Room, where they sank into the seats by the fire, the girls no where in sight and Yami highly amused by Joey's reaction.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that I've already have a date to the ball." Yugi said, holding his hand up.

"And you didn't say anything?" Joey asked, then paused, "Wait, who?"

"That's for me to know, and you to find out." Yugi giggled.

"So that's what you were up to this morning." Yami said, sounding surprised, "I did wonder."

"Ha!" Joey crowed, "Yugi beat Kaiba! Again!"

"Joey, it's not a game." Harry sighed, looking rather uncomfortable.

Both Yami and Joey gave him odd looks. "Everything's a game." Joey replied.

"Not this."

"We could make it a game... with points and things, best score at the end of the year wins?"

"I don't wish to die." Harry said.

"Come on Harry! Someone's already trying to kill you, what harm could a few more on top of that do?"

"Girls are more inventive."

"Then we'll get more boys to join in, the more targets the girls have the less likely they'll kill us all."

They finally decided on;

+10 for a girl you didn't know before,

-10 for a girl you'd known for more then a year,

+20 for every successful date you had,

-5 for every argument,

+5 for every time you apologise in public for an argument,

+20 for Slytherin/Gryffindor alliances,

+10 for dating outside your house,

+20 for dating outside your school,

-20 if girl finds out,

-200 if the girl reacts badly to finding out,

+50 for getting though the ball without incident,

+20 for a successful breakup that doesn't result in the girl hating your guts.

And finally;

+20 if you manage to convince the girl to keep dating you until after the game ends.

Harry was still convinced that this was a crazy idea, but Yugi had already gone upstairs and Yami and Joey were talking to some of the other boys who'd come in during the discussions.

It was going to be an… interesting… term.

Joey was awake and he wasn't sure why.

* * *

He'd been exhausted when he'd come to bed, but only a couple of hours later, he'd woken up and been unable to get to sleep.

Something was bothering him, preventing him from drifting back to sleep but he hadn't the foggiest idea what it was.

Odds were it was something silly and small, since he'd managed to sleep easily through both Battle City and the Pegasus thing, which most certainly counted as big things.

In the bed closet to the door, Yugi muttered and rolled over, making Joey smile. Yuge was practically his brother and they trusted each other with their lives, but almost every time they got into a dangerous situation Yuge found it practically impossible to sleep.

Since he was sleeping, Joey figured that whatever was keeping him awake wasn't something that affected his friend.

Then there was a change. A change in what Joey couldn't say, but it was enough to have him alert and halfway out of bed.

Something by Yuge's bed was glowing and as Joey moved quietly across the room, he realised it was something on Yuge's bedside table.

He paused. Glowing + bedside table = the Millennium Puzzle or the Millennium Necklace was active.

But which one was it?

The atmosphere changed again, getting colder, and Joey's eyes swept the room as he drew his wand. Sudden cold = Dementor in his mind and while they thought they had dealt with that problem, Joey wasn't ready to risk it.

Yugi moaned, hands closing on the sheets tightly and face taking on a frown.

Nightmare, Joey finally twigged, Yuge was having another nightmare. He always woke up when Yuge was having a nightmare.

"Yuge." Joey shook his friend, "Yuge, wake up."

Mutter. Mutter. Groan. "Joey?" Confusion and concern reigned in the look his best friend gave him.

"You were having another nightmare, Yuge." Joey whispered with a reassuring grin, "Probably caused by one of those." He nodded towards the bedside table.

"What?" Yugi's eyes widened and he slipped quietly out of bed to check them.

"One of them was glowing." Joey whispered in reply as Yugi picked up the Puzzle, looked over at the completely undisturbed Pharaoh, shook his head and reached for the Millennium Necklace, picking it up from where Joey had left it when he'd taken it off last night.

"It hasn't been playing up while I've been wearing it…" Joey said, reaching for it also.

The Millennium Necklace glowed brightly and the dorm vanished.

"Joey?" Yugi yelped, remembering that the Necklace could show the past, present or future. He looked around, seeing no Joey as he floated above the Quidditch Pitch. It no longer looked like the Quidditch Pitch, it looked like someone had grown a giant hedge maze there instead. The gang were gathered in the stands, looking nervous but excited.

Almost all of them.

Harry and Kari were by the maze entrance.

"A task?" Yugi wondered out loud as the cannon went off and Kari and Harry nodded to each other before entering, and were watched from above as Krum attempted to attack Kari, was taken down by Harry and the two raced for the cup, Kari fending off giant spiders to help her friend, just as he'd helped her.

"A tie?" Yugi frowned, "They'll tie."

The two reached for the cup at the same time.

And vanished.

Yugi himself back in the dorm, surrounded by his friends, two of whom had woken up at the flare of light.

"Yugi, are you alright?" Yami was asking. "What did you see?"

"A task." Yugi frowned, "The maze, whichever task that's going to be, Harry and Kari touched the cup and vanished."

"Vanished?" Harry looked a little surprised.

"Vanished."

"Did it look like part of the task?" Yami asked.

"It might have been, but I don't think so, why would the Millennium Necklace show us if it was meant to happen?" Yugi gave his dark a look that said, 'I'm right, I don't want to be but I'm right.'

Yami sighed, "We know it's possible to change the future, Kaiba did once, but who would we have to tell to try to fix this?"

"Professor McGonagall?"

"Can I get some sleep?" Ron complained from his bed.

"Shut up Ron." Joey snapped, then turned back to his _friends_. "She'd go to Professor Dumbledore, and he might do something, but what's the odds neither of them would believe us?"

"Dumbledore wouldn't do anything." Yami shook his head, "He seems intent on getting Harry into as much trouble as possible."

"But…" Harry said, then paused, knowing Yami was right.

"I know." Yami sighed, "We have to do something."

"Well… who else might be able to help?"

"Professor Moody?" Joey hazarded. "He's paranoid enough to suspect foul play and double check everything just to be sure, and if we tell him someone's going to play with the cup…"

"Then we'd have to prove how we knew or he'd think we were the ones who were going to play with it."

"No… we don't. We don't have to prove anything. Professor Moody already thinks we're paranoid. If we start double checking everything…"

"Then he'll think something is wrong and double check himself if only to double check what we're double checking."

"Or we could say we've found something suspicious while we were checking everything." Yami nodded.

Yugi slumped onto his bed, mind racing, and Yami watched him carefully. "Yugi?"

"We have to give Kari a heads up too." The hikari said, thinking out loud, "And now we know something might go wrong, we can work on other surprises while we're training." Yugi said, thinking, "Try and give you both some tricks that no one will think you have."

"Like what?"

"Good question."

"Charmed items?" Yugi suggested tentivly.

"Sounds like a good idea." Joey nodded, "What about higher level spells?"

"We'll ask Hermione." Yami said, "She's bound to know what some of the upper years are learning and where to get the books on it."

"There's nothing we can do until tomorrow, we can't get to the girl's dorms." Joey shrugged and yawned, "Meanwhile we should try to sleep."

"Thank you." Ron hissed.

Joey snarled and glared at the young man who glared right back.

"Not now Joey." Yami growled as Yugi yawned and put the Necklace back on the bedside table, "He's not worth the point deduction."

"Hey!" Ron protested, realising that Yami was being brutally honest in his opinion.

"Yami." Yugi growled at his dark, _"Behave."_ He added down the link.

Yami settled for glaring and turned to give Yugi a look that said 'What? I was behaving.'

Yugi sighed and rolled his eyes. This had been a problem since Ron had fallen out with the group and if he was honest he was expecting his dark and Ron to come to blows if Ron didn't stop making snarky comments all the time. _"Just don't, alright. I don't want to have to explain why we were up in the middle of the night to Madam Pomfrey."_

' _You wouldn't have to.'_

" _You're not allowed to Shadow Game him for being an idiot either."_

There was no reply and Yugi's eyes shot towards his dark. He'd been joking!

 _`Yami's not that stupid…`_ Harry sent, _`Right Yami?`_

Yami looked amused by the idea and Yugi sent irritation down the link. _"I give up, I'm going back to bed! Wake me up when you're being sane again."_

 _`But then you'll never get up.`_ Harry pointed out.

' _Hey!'_ Yami protested.

" _Exactly."_ Yugi grinned at Yami who wasn't sure how serious Yugi was being. "Night guys…again."

"Night Yuge." Joey said, giving up his glaring contest with Ron and going back to bed.

Everyone went back to bed. _'You were joking right?'_ Yami asked down the link while looking at the back of Yugi's head.

" _It depends, are you planning on 'Gaming' Ron any time in the near future? Because if you do, I'm refusing to get up to deal with the consequences."_

' _No, of course not!'_ Yami said hastily, _'I mean he is being a complete idiot and a Penalty Game might…'_

" _Yami!"_ Yugi rolled over and glared at him. _"No."_

' _I…'_ Yami trailed off at the look he was getting. _'Uhhhh.'_

" _No, just no. I thought you knew better then to inflict Penalty Games to change people. Look how well it worked on Draco."_ Yugi snorted out loud.

Harry didn't know what to say and was wisely keeping out of it.

Yami thought of a few of the choicer shadow games he'd played in the beginning and cringed. _'I promise I won't Game Ron, ok?'_

_`I guess we shouldn't have said anything about gaming Voldemort.`_

" _That was different."_ Yugi said, _"That was needed, he didn't belong in your head. Gaming Ron isn't necessary and I'm not ok with it! Yami shouldn't have considered it in the first place. There are better ways of getting people to see sense. He has to work out he's being an idiot for himself! If you Game him it's the magic changing him, not him getting a clue."_

' _Magic can't change people, Yugi.'_

" _Well someone didn't get your message, Yami, because it sure seems like it sometimes."_

 _`You ok Yugi?`_ Harry frowned, _`Last time you were this snappy, it was because of your parents.`_

" _No, I'm feeling annoyed at Yami. Other then that it's nothing a good night's sleep can't cure,"_ Yugi growled down the link, _"But now I can't sleep."_ Yugi closed his eyes and gave an irritated sigh as he tried to settle down to go back to sleep. " _One Kuriboh, two Kuriboh, three Kuriboh…"_

_`One explosion, two explosions, three explosions…`_

" _Harry!"_ Yugi laughed.

 _`What?`_ Harry asked mock-innocently.

' _Sorry.'_ Yami said so quietly that the two only just heard him.

Yugi opened his eyes and smiled ruefully, _"Just promise me you'll think before you do things, 'Gaming' Ron would cause more problems then its worth."_

' _I promise.'_

" _Good, now go to sleep."_

 _`You too, you're always up way too early!`_ Harry said, drifting off easily.

' _Like you're one to talk.'_ Yami countered, trying to settle in to sleep himself, but it wasn't easy since he was able to sense Yugi trying to shift his irritation. He hadn't realised just how angry he'd made his hikari by not answering. _'I wouldn't have done it.'_ Yami sent, hoping it would calm Yugi's restless mind.

He saw Yugi freeze and then relax properly, the young man's emotions settling and while Yami found it slightly worrying that Yugi could think that he actually would Shadow Game, he did recognise it as a valid worry. He hadn't actually said anything to put Yugi's mind at rest during that entire conversation.

Finally settled, Yugi slipped easily back into sleep and Yami was only a few moments behind him.


	10. Dates of the Inedible Kind

Time passes all too quickly when you don't want it to and if Harry and Kari were honest, after Rita Skeeter's article about the 'Triwizard Tournament' that basically had dissolved into an article about Harry without any quotes from Harry, but quoting Colin Creevey and few others, as well as dragging out the question of romantic issues.

"Ignore it." Yugi advised, a fortnight later as Malfoy led the Slytherin Table in a recitation of 'Granger, Ironhide and Potter sitting in a tree.', "They're lousy singers and they can't think of anything original, besides, Kari's with Kaiba till the Yule Ball, as far as I'm aware none of the Slytherins have dates yet, and besides, the press make digs at relationships when they have nothing better to write about or you wouldn't give them a juicy enough script." He giggled, "Joey, do you remember that so called three way love triangle?"

"Boy do I." Joey growled, remembering the press their first summer back from Hogwarts, "I'm sorry Yuge, but somehow I don't think Mai's your type of girl."

Yami snorted, well versed in the whims of the press and just how irritating they could be unless they got their own way, and choosing to ignore the taunting table in favour of planning his next move.

" _Yami?"_ Yugi asked as Yami got up from the table and crossed the hall towards the Slytherin table which had gone silent.

Bakura was on his feet less then half a moment after Yami, and the entire hall held its breath as Yami and Bakura met in the middle.

Nothing happened.

They nodded to each other, barely, and then got out of each others way and continued on to the now terrified Slytherin table and the wary Gryffindors.

 _`What are you up to?`_ Harry asked Yami as Ombre rose to her feet, wondering exactly why Bakura was talking to a seventh year Gryffindor girl and wondering if she should intervene.

In the meantime, Yami was having a conversation with a seventh year Slytherin girl, who seems quite capable of talking to the Pharaoh by herself, without her friend's constant insistence that he went away.

" _I think…"_ Yugi paused as the seventh year Gyffindor motioned for Bakura to sit beside her, and the seventh year Slytherin laughed lightly at something Yami said, before Yami too sat down beside her. Yugi nodded with a thoughtful look, _"That Yami and Bakura are trying to win the game."_

However, nothing else happened, the two teens went back to their tables after speaking to the girls a little longer, and the Hall broke out in relieved sounding chatter, making Yugi facepalm, it came to something when your dark half's temper was so well known that the entire school worried when he met someone he didn't normally like.

' _40 points please.'_ Yami sounded smug, referring to the list hanging up in the boy's dorm, which, unfortunately had been found by the girls, who now seemed to have their own game running with the other Gryffindor girls, but a lot more quietly then the guys.

" _You're impossible."_ Yugi sighed.

 _`You know it's not going to matter after Tuesday anyway.`_ Harry said mournfully.

"You'll do alright." Yugi said out loud, for the benefit of the others, "It would be insane to make the first task too difficult…"

"Besides, it's not like we're not being careful." Yami pointed out. "Still have no clue what the task is though."

"We only have to be worried if it's the maze." Kari pointed out, "And the task isn't likely to involve the Triwizard Cup at stage one."

"Aren't you nervous at all?"

"Nervous? I'm terrified. I like to know what I'm diving into head first thank you very much." Kari admitted, "I mean I'm used to crazy, look what I put up with on a day to day basis, but at least with these crazy loons around, I know what I'm getting."

"Hey!"

"She has a point."

"But she did put her name in the cup."

"Yes, I did. That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to complain when I'm nervous, unless you'd like me to kick your ass at Duel Monsters for the one hundred and forty second time to calm my nerves instead."

"Ok. You can try…" Joey replied, grinning.

"Can we wait until after lessons?" Yugi asked with a groan.

"But Yugi…" Kari and Joey whined simultaneously.

Yugi's reply was cut short by the arrival of Hedwig with a letter for Harry.

"What's up?" Joey asked, noting Harry's frown.

"Hagrid wants to see me, late Saturday night."

"There's a Hogsmead trip Saturday, isn't there?" Joey asked.

"Uh huh, and at the rate you're going, you and Harry are going to be the only ones without dates." Yami said.

"Ah don't rub it in." Joey growled, "Or I'll get you back the way I got you this morning."

"You couldn't catch me with the same trick twice."

"Please, all I did was yell 'hey look, a distraction' and pointed behind you and you looked! Any noogies you received this morning were through your own stupidity."

Yami grumbled under his breath and Joey tilted his head, a mischievous look in his eyes, "What was that Yami?"

"I believe," Yugi said, joining in with the teasing, "Yami said that he acted before he'd processed what you'd said."

"But I thought he always knew exactly what he was doing." Joey continued, taking another slice of toast from the table, grinning behind it, just knowing that this was poking holes in Yami's ego, which had, of late, been getting a little over inflated. "Wasn't he just saying that the other day?"

"I believe so." Harry said.

"All right, all right." Yami growled irritably.

"You have been a bit big headed recently." Kari said, flicking her fingers at him, "And it was justifiable for a while, after you scared off all of those Slytherins last week, but enough is enough. Joey won't be the only one teasing you until your head can fit through the doors again."

"Besides," Yugi said, "If you don't start needing sane sized hats again soon, I'm going to let Kaiba into the dorm room when you're sleeping with that mumph…" Yugi glared at his dark over the hand that was now covering his mouth. When he found out who had told Yugi about that plushie he was going to send them on a one way trip to the Shadow Realm.

Joey, who was aware of Yami's thoughts on the matter, felt sorry for Seamus.

"On that note…" Harry rose from the table, "We're going to be late for class."

The others rose too, heading out the door simultaneously. Harry was just glad the good moods were back. Alright, the tiredness had been replaced by worry, but since Joey and Yugi weren't being plagued by dreams any more, what with the Millennium Necklace having been returned to the backpack, a few good nights of sleep had cured most of the irritability going around.

Now if they could get Yami's head down to a sane size… what was that?

Something brown and fuzzy and chattering away at a hundred miles an hour had tackled Yugi.

"Boh? Boh! Boh! Calm down!" Yugi giggled, "How did you get here?"

The Kuriboh got down and was practically dancing to the tune of, "I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!"

"Boh?" Yugi laughed again, "I've been worried. How did you manage it?"

 _Kisara told me how to get here!_ Boh giggled in Yugi's head and of course, because the mind link wasn't closed, Yami and Harry heard him.

"Kisara helped you?" Yami asked, "That's not like her."

_I think she was bored of me asking._

"How is everyone?" Yugi asked, excitably.

"Yugi, classes?" Joey laughed.

_Should I wait in the common room?_

"No, go to the Monster's Wing, we'll met you there after class." Yugi grinned. "I'm so happy to see you."

 _It's nice to be back too, Yugi._ Boh giggled before he shot off.

"Does Boh always sound that bouncy?" Harry asked.

"Yeap." Yugi nodded, "At least when he's in a good mood."

"Which is about eighty percent of the time."

"Only eighty?"

"Maybe ninety…" Joey looked like he was seriously considering.

"Come on." Yugi pushed Joey towards the stairs, "The sooner we're done with class the sooner we can go talk with Boh."

* * *

"So?" Yugi asked after class, "How did you manage it?"

 _Kaiba found some really old magic and he used it and it showed Kisara the paths from our world to yours and vice versa._ Boh broadcast so everyone in the room could hear him _And when I found out, I badgered her until she told me about them._

"You?" Harry asked, "Badgered Kisara? Weren't you afraid she was going to blast you?"

 _Kisara doesn't blast me, I'm not a threat, and besides, she's bored of me multiplying_.

"I think we've finally bored her with that trick." Yugi giggled.

 _Just a little bit._ Boh nodded empathically.

"What about Mahado?" Yami asked, "Does he knew yet?"

 _I'm going to go tell him, now I know it works._ Boh giggled, _They've been so busy, what with…_ Boh suddenly went silent.

"What?"

 _Nothing._ Boh giggled, _You'll see._

"Boh!"

 _Not telling you. That's Mahado and Mana's job._ Boh was still giggling. Then he turned to look at Harry, _You weren't linked to Yugi last time…_

"No, Yami helped me and we ended up in this odd three way mind link thing." Harry said, "I don't understand it myself."

_Mahado might._

"Then I look forward to speaking to him."

"Boh, could anyone who is linked to the Shadows, tell Harry's one of us now?" Yami asked, frowning.

 _I don't think so, I just noticed the extra door in Yugi's head._ Boh shook his head. _But he does have a lot of Shadows around him… someone stronger might, I don't know…_

"Can we not go borrowing trouble?" Harry asked, "I'm worried enough about this Tournament without inviting… wait, no, invite Marik." Harry said, "Then he can send me to the Shadow Realm and I won't have to compete!"

"Harry!" Yami was both appalled and amused.

"Yeah, Marik's good now. He won't try to kill you."

"You're right. If I really want someone to try to kill me… I really should invite my cousin."

"Harry!"

"What?"

"Well he had ten years! It's not like I expect him to suddenly succeed."

"No. Just no." Yugi shook his head. "And please don't ask the Shadows to cough up Yami Marik, they're so irritated at the moment they just might do it."

"Irritated?"

"As in 'these are my minds to play with. Not yours'." Yugi answered.

"I wonder what would happen if I told the Shadows they remind me of Dudley."

"NO!" Everyone half laughed, half gave an exasperated sigh.

"Well he never let anyone else beat me up… except his friends… and casual acquaintances… and girls who he didn't think were contagious… and the girls he thought were as long as they didn't touch him…"

"What an…"

"Are you going to be alright living with him?"

"If I was worried I would have objected to Sirius taking him in." Harry pointed out.

_Yugi?_

" _What's wrong Boh?"_ Yugi asked, mind to mind, having heard the nervousness in Boh's tone, _"Is everything alright?"_

 _Mahado said he sensed something strange, like the Shadows were pulled in a direction they shouldn't be and they haven't settled yet._ Boh sounded worried.

" _IS it because of Harry?"_

 _No, it's not him… I don't know what it is… neither does Mahado, that's why he's worried. But he can't tell Mana right now because…_ Boh shut up.

"Boh!" Yugi frowned.

 _I'm going to get Mahado. He might be able to work something out._ Boh broadcast and with a small, purple light, he was gone.

"Did you catch that?" Yugi asked Yami who nodded. "Sounded like we have more 'fun' on the way."

"Is this a new definition of fun which hasn't been explained to us yet?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, you know this sort of 'fun'." Yugi advised, "It's the kind that causes running and screaming half the time."

"Ahh, yes, I'm very familiar with that sort of fun."

"Care to share with the rest of us?" Joey asked.

"Think life or death situation."

"Oh."

"Something's playing around with that Shadows that isn't us." Yami scowled.

"Ummm, who?"

"Dunno."

"Great." Harry was impressed at how much sarcasm Joey could get into a single word.

"Oh and we should be expecting an invasion from the monsters any day now."

"Excellent!" Joey's face lit up. "Wait, all of them, or just ours?"

"…We didn't ask…"

"I think now is a good time to panic." Yugi said solemnly.

"I don't think we have monsters." Harry indicated himself and Hermione. "So we'll just stay out of the way."

"Oh you will do by now." Yami said, "The amount you play and the way you treat certain cards. Besides," He smirked, "You're not getting out of it that easily, hikari 2."

"Does that make me hikari 1?" Yugi asked.

"No, you're still just hikari."

"Just hikari?" Yugi asked, mock glaring.

"I didn't mean it like…eep!" Yami squeaked and leapt over the sofa to avoid Yugi's cushion, only to get hit by one from Harry. "Joey, help!"

Joey was already moving to intercept, grabbing Yugi and half a second later finding himself on his back with a Hermione sat on top of him. "Ummm, hi?"

Kari had joined in too, siding with Yami in what resulted in a pillow war, right up until the table that blocked off one door was knocked over.

At which point Ombre finally joined in, making the sides Joey and Yami 'vs' Yugi and Harry 'vs' Kari, Ombre and Hermione, after the table had been picked up of course, and ended with them all collapsed in a giggling heap on the floor.

"Well… so much for panic."

"Meh." Hermione said, astounding them with a word they'd never heard her use before, "Panicking doesn't help anyone. And panic really hates us. I mean imagine what would happen if we had the luxury of panic."

"I didn't like Panik very much." Yugi said randomly, "He was a selfish bully." He looked at Yami, "You mind crushed him, didn't you?"

"I did."

"I don't know whether to be sorry about it or not." Yugi admitted, "And that in itself makes me wonder about all sorts of things."

"Like what?"

"Do the ends justify the means sometimes and do people really deserve it?" Yugi asked, "I mean, I don't think so, but then something needed to be done about Panik and he wasn't going to change on his own…"

"I'll kick anyone's ass for you." Joey said, "You don't need to Game anyone."

"I don't want to. I just wonder about the causes and effects from it sometimes."

On that incredibly deep, philosophical note… Joey's stomache rumbled.

"Food now please?" Joey asked

"Food." The others nodded.

* * *

Harry, being the sneaky person he was, casually watched the Ravenclaw table. Then when a certain person left, he followed. Slipping away from the table, with an 'Catch you later guys." to his friends.

"Hey Becs, got a moment?" He asked the blonde Ravenclaw.

"Sure Harry, what's up?"

"I was wondering, would you go to the ball with me?" Harry was very impressed his voice didn't squeak, like he had heard some boy's earlier.

"Oh Harry... I'm sorry, I've already been asked."

"Oh. Well Okay. I just thought you would like to go, and you're a friend, and I like you, and I've been told these things are more fun with a friend..."

"Harry, you're babbling."

"Sorry. Right. I guess I better ask a complete stranger then, since all the girls I know already have dates..."

"Well... Harry, can I ask a favour?"

"Sure, anything for my little sis."

"My friend Luna would like to go to the ball, you'll like her, she's fun and a little weird..."

"Sure!" Harry jumped on the idea. "Luna, is she a Ravenclaw? Do I know her? Would she really want to go with me?"

Rebecca laughed. "When you ask her, pretend you aren't desperate."

* * *

Joey had spent several days researching the seventh year girls. Most of them were already in relationships, and so had dates to the ball. This morning, there had been four who hadn't. Not that he was going to ask the ice-queen of Gyffindor, and he doubted he would have been able to convince a Slytherin to go with him.

Joey watched the Hufflepuffs go past. He had nothing in common with the Ravenclaws, and all of them were already in a relationship, and if he was honest he'd always felt empathy towards the Hufflepuffs. Loyal but under rated… He could have been a Hufflepuff, the hat had said, but his courage had outweighed his loyalty by just enough to sway the hat's choices.

He didn't regret it either, but it made him wonder sometimes, if he could have been a Hufflepuff and Yami could have been a Slytherin, did the others have a house they were almost as suited to?

He waited until the pair of seventh year Hufflepuffs walked outside before speaking up, "Excuse me?"

The two turned to look at him, "Yes? Can we help?"

"Hi. I'm Joey Wheeler, and would you like to go to the ball with me?

The Hufflepuffs looked at each other and for a moment Joey was afraid they were going to say that they'd both already been asked. Then they turned back to Joey. "Part of Potter's group, right?"

"Yeah. You've probably heard of the game the gang came up with, but I think it's a great way to get to know people outside our houses." He babbled.

The blonde glanced sideways, looking at her friend. "We were kinda of planning to go together."

"I'm sure he could take both of us, after all, he did ask both of us, right Joey?" The brunette said, grinning at him.

"Uhh, sure." Joey said, nodding.

The brunette giggled, "I'm Alecia, and this is my friend Cordelia."

"Cordi, please." The blonde grinned.

"But never Ali, thanks."

"Okay, great…"

"We were aware of the game the boys are playing." Cordi said, rolling her eyes. Then she grinned mischievously, "But since we found out before you asked us out, you don't lose points. Right?"

"I dunno." Joey looked confused.

"We'd love to come with you to Hogsmead." Alecia grinned, highly amused by the look on Joey's face.

"Cool." Joey grinned.

"See ya later?" Alecia asked.

Joey nodded, and the two girls headed on down the hallway.

"Wait, did I just agree to take two dates to the ball?" Joey asked himself. Suddenly it seemed like a very bad idea.

* * *

It had to be said that the Hogsmead trip was very different when they all had girlfriends and boyfriends, and Harry found that even though Luna hadn't been his first choice for his date, he was in fact enjoying the time he was spending with her.

He'd seen the others roaming around, well, most of them, and had tagged along with Yugi for a while, trying to find out who he was going out with, but had lost the hikari in the crowds.

Yugi and Hermione were the only two who hadn't introduced their partners to the gang, making Harry wonder exactly who they were dating. It wasn't like it Yugi was dating Rebecca or something…

"Of course when I first saw Yugi and Yami, I thought that they had run into a Red Crested Giogagner." Luna was saying, Harry, who was beginning to get used to all of Luna's made up creatures just looked at her, which of course encouraged her to continue, "What with their mind link and all, but now you're linked to them too and you'd tell me if you ran into one, wouldn't you Harry?"

"Sure. If you tell me what they look like."

This of course made Luna happily spend the next ten minutes describing the beast in question. Harry could honestly say he'd never ran into one and from the way Luna described it, he'd never want to.

Heading into Honeydukes, they found Joey, Alecia and Cordi stocking up on supplies for the post first task party, which the three of the confidently told Harry they were eagerly awaiting his and Kari's good turn out and that they had great confidence in them, which made Harry feel better considering the amount of Slytherins with badges he'd seen around.

Joey mentioned that he'd seen Kari and Seto heading towards the Shrieking Shack, and that Yami and his girlfriend were wandering around somewhere but he wasn't sure where theyd gone.

"And I have no idea where Yugi or Hermione are." Joey finished, after rattling off a list of their friends, including the fact Ombre and Ryou were at the Three Broomsticks and Ginny and Mokuba were in fact raiding the joke shop. "Any clues?"

Harry, impressed that Joey had managed to keep up with everyone, shook his head, having had no clue where anyone else was either.

"I hope they weren't eaten by a Trufflenosed Mole." Luna said, "Yami would be most upset."

Joey frowned at looked at Harry, who shrugged.

"Anyway, I'll see ya later Harry, I have to pay for this." Joey indicated his huge pile of sweets.

* * *

"I'm sorry Seto." Kari sighed as she sat on a rock, watching the Shrieking Shack, which had lost some of it's mystery now she knew that the shrieking had been from Professor Lupin in his werewolf form, "But it was either leave or start a punch up with that Skeeter woman."

"I thought you told Harry to ignore it."

"I did. That doesn't mean I should take someone accusing me of paedophilia lightly." Kari growled, "He's underage, I'm an adult, it's disgusting and I don't like Harry that way anyway."

"I could get my company to background check her, if you want." Seto said, watching the frown turn into an amused look.

"Na, I'd just like that apology that I demanded. It's still not been printed. Either that or something on Skeeter so she left the gang alone, this tournament's going to be hard enough on everyone as it is."

"The great Kari Ironhide is nervous?" Seto asked, trying to prod her into a response. He hated seeing her all apathic like this, she wasn't the same girl that he knew, something had broken inside her, and he wasn't sure how to fix it. "That's not like you."

"No. But sometimes I don't feel like me anymore. It's like all the fear and hope and every other emotion got so worn out over the summer that all I am now is a hollow shell and I hate it."

Seto, who wasn't exactly the best one to talk to about this didn't really know what to say, but he had this strange feeling that was exactly what she wanted, not someone who would try to fix her, but someone who would just listen.

"I hate feeling like this. I should be terrified and hiding it behind my game face or bouncing off the ceilings in excitement, and all I can think about is punching that Skeeter b… woman in the face."

"Well anger is an emotion at least." The CEO said, sitting down on part of Kari's rock, "What happened? You did so well, held on so long…"

"I was minus half my soul, for almost three months, I was trying to run a company from behind the scenes and I had no idea about half the departments, my bosses and friends go missing, one of my friends has his soul stolen… it was a heavy summer Seto." Kari sighed, "And now my best friend hates me and her Seer power seems to have driven her crazy."

"And there's nothing you can do."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You have to Kari, you can't bottle it up."

"Like you have a right to talk," She glared at him, and while Seto would normally be wary or annoyed himself, he was just delighted to have gotten a reaction out of her, "You kept yourself to yourself until you were nothing but a ball of rage and hate."

"And it took Yami mind crushing me to fix it. Do you really want to go that way?"

"No." Kari shook her head, "Besides, all that would do is leave me broken mentally and Yami broken physically because Ombre would rip him into about a million tiny pieces."

Seto winced at the image in his head.

"And that would result in a broken Yugi, because no more Yami…" Kari groaned at all the repercussions she could see playing out in her head, "Alright, alright, I'll talk but I don't want to…"

"Just talking is a good start." Seto nodded, "So?"

* * *

Yami was tired and glad when the day was over.

His Slytherin girlfriend, in an attempt to keep away from his Gryffindor friends, had dragged him around almost every shop imaginable, as well as pulling him away from the crowded Three Broomsticks, towards the seedier and danker Hog's Head, where he had to put up with her friends. However, he'd managed it, and been mostly polite towards them even when they'd made comments about the Gryffindor in their midst.

Collapsing on a chair in front of the fire, he was still there when Harry left the Common Room at eleven o'clock to talk to Hagrid. Why it had to be this late, when everyone else had gone to bed and even the gang were asleep, was beyond the Pharaoh, but when Harry came back the young man looked terrified.

"Harry?"

"First task. Not a maze."

"What?"

"Dragons… Big… Fire breathing…" Harry looked at him, "Tell Kari."

Yami frowned, "Dragons?"

"One for each champion."

"Great. So, we have two days to teach you how to fight a dragon."

"You know how?"

"Ummm. No." Yami admitted. "Okay, two days to find out how to beat a dragon and teach you."

"I told you that the ball wouldn't matter after Tuesday."

"We're not going to let you and Kari die." Yami scowled at Harry as he sank into a chair, "We'll just have to find a way to win."

"But… but… dragons!" Harry's threw up his arms in a general running and screaming gesture.

"Everything has a weakness. Besides, I bet you could out fly it." Yami pointed out. "It's way too big and cumbersome to be very agile."

"But I can't take my broomstick in!"

"Uhhh… ask Hermione?"

"Is she allowed to help me and Kari?"

"I don't see why not, as long as you're not helping Kari and vice versa." Yami said, "And worst to worst, we can always get Hermione to teach us it and she can help Kari and we can help you."

Harry relaxed slightly. "So you think I can out fly a dragon."

Yami nodded.

"So all I need is a Summoning charm…" Harry suddenly grinned, "I know what I need to do!"

Harry dived upstairs and Yami paused to watch him go, before what he'd actually just recommended sank in. Then he dived upstairs to where Harry was quietly getting out his charms book.

"Harry." Yami hissed.

Harry just grinned at him and put on his pjs before climbing into bed and reading the book.

' _Harry!'_

' _Yes Yami?`_

' _I didn't mean…'_

_`Yes you did.`_

" _Mean what?"_ Yami cringed as Yugi joined the conversation, though he sounded half asleep. _"Harry? Yami?"_

_`Yami suggested I try out flying the dragon I'm going to have to fight in the first task.`_

" _Okay."_ Yugi nearly went back to sleep in the five seconds it took for sleepy Yugi to process that and then, "Dragons?" He yelped out loud.

 _`Yeap, dragons.`_ Harry nodded as Yugi sat up, looked around to make he hadn't woken anyone up and then gave Harry a bleary eyed confused stare.

" _How did you find that out?"_

_`Hagrid told me.`_

" _And Yami suggested out flying it?"_

_`I know, I was surprised too.`_

' _I only said that I thought that Harry could, it wasn't a…'_

" _Sounds like one to me."_ Yugi said, _"Shame we have no way to contact Kari like this, not until the Monsters get back."_

 _`We'll tell her tomorrow.`_ Harry said, _`Professor Flitwick covered summoning charms, didn't he?`_

" _It's called Accio."_ Yugi said, _"But you've only got two days to learn it."_

_`Which is why I'm going to Hermione first thing tomorrow.`_

" _Okay."_ Yugi rolled over and went back to sleep.

Yami stared at his hikari, surprised at the lack of concern shown. But then there had been plenty of worry and shock when Harry had first said it, but he'd forgotten that when Yami suggested a plan, Yugi accepted it, because it normally worked and they'd woken Yugi up so he hadn't really been able to react like he normally would.

Yami wondered what this hikari's reaction would be in the morning.

* * *

Yugi got up the next morning, brushed his teeth, had a wash, got dressed, nodded to Kari who was up earlier then usual for their training session, woke the others, and with the group headed down to the lake.

As they took their morning run, the cold morning air finally woke him up enough to make him stop in his tracks. "Dragons."

"Yuge?" Joey asked, having ran back to see if his friend was alright.

"Dragons."

"Where?"

"No. The first task, dragons."

"Huh?"

"Ask Harry."

"Oi Harry!" Joey yelled, Harry ran back to them, "What's this about dragons?"

"The first task is dragons." Harry said, "Yami's going to tell Kari for me."

"Dragons?"

"No Joey, you can't have one."

"Awww. Not even a little one?"

"Remember the last 'little' dragon?"

"He was cute."

"He bit me! Twice!"

"And he was poisonous."

"And he burned me."

"So, that's a maybe?"

"No!" They chorused.

"The PESDs weren't that bad."

"The PESDs are semi-Duel Monsters."

"Fine…" Then Joey got a far away look in his eyes, "Do you think after Hogwarts, I could work in a Dragon Sanctuary?"

"If you want." Harry sighed.

"I dunno, they might worry if you start fangirling over the dragons."

"Wouldn't it be fanboying?"

"No, the way he acts around dragons, it's defiantly fangirling."

"Hey!" Yugi completed the rest of their run in record time as he was chased by Joey the whole way.

While Yugi was talking to Joey and Harry, Yami had caught up with Kari, Seto and Ombre. "Hey, you need to hear this." Yami said, getting them to slow to a fast walk, "Hagrid showed Harry what the first task is going to be and you're going to need to think of something fast."

"What is it?" Kari asked.

"Dragons."

"WHAT?"

"You're joking."

"I wish." Yami paused as Yugi raced past, closely followed by Joey. "But the first task involves fighting a dragon."

"And we have two… oh by the Gods…" Kari looked ill. "A dragon's weak points are it's eyes, other then that I have no clue…" She paused, "How would you even get high enough to hit a dragon in the eyes in the first place?"

"Kari, you're a witch, I don't think you'll be hitting it with a baseball bat."

"Harry's going to try out flying it." Yami sounded like he hated the idea and Kari had a good idea why, it was going to be dangerous enough on the ground, yet alone in the air.

"I meant aiming a spell." Kari glared. "I can't use the Orb, I don't have enough skill on a broom to try Harry's scheme, and it's not like I can take my deck into the arena. I don't really want crispy cards thank you very much."

Harry paused as he overtook them, giving Yami a questioning look, the Pharaoh nodded in reply and Harry looked relieved and kept going.

"He worries about you." Yami said to Kari, "He's more worried about you then himself."

"The same here." Seto pointed at Kari. "More worried about Harry then about herself."

"Seto…"

"What?"

"They won't want you to kill the dragon, they're a protected species." Seto pointed out, "You'll probably just need to either take it down, distract it or get past it."

"I have an idea, but I'll need to go straight from breakfast to the library. I've got two days to learn a spell, if it's the one I think it is." The others nodded and Seto and Yami raced ahead, racing each other, with Seto easily outstripping Yami at the last, just to irritate the Pharaoh. They were friends now yes, but that didn't mean that Seto didn't enjoy teasing when he could.

Kari and Ombre were the last in, in the middle of a discussion that sounded like it was going to rise to a debate and was only really settled when Yami took Ombre as a sparring partner and Yugi grabbed Kari and they settled into fighting.

After training they went up, washed again, and ate quickly, before Kari, Ombre, Hermione and Seto shot up to the library and Harry, Yugi, Yami and Joey approached Professor McGonagall about using an empty classroom for practising in.

* * *

Monday night brought the quietest night the Gryffindor Common Room had seen in years as the entire house both wished the pair luck and wondered about their chances for survival…

The gang itself had fled to the Monsters Wing hours ago, half annoyed and half actually worried by the comments that they'd had to endure all day and tomorrow morning could be nothing but worse, in an attempt to get some peace and quiet and actual sleep before tomorrow hit them like a ton of bricks.

Harry was feeling positive. He was feeling very positive.

In fact he was so positive he had already told his friends exactly what they could have of his meagre possessions.

Kari however was burying her head in a book, trying not to think about tomorrow, don't mention it, it's not happening, I don't believe you, I'm not listening, lalalalalalalalalala… basically.

The gang were on crazily high alert, no one was getting in or out without the gang knowing and no one was going to get anywhere near Kari or Harry tonight or tomorrow and everyone was so worried that when a crowd of monsters appeared out of no where, half of the group had their wands drawn before they even realised what was going on.

"Mana!" The relief in Kari's voice was evident, then there was a pause… and then a shocked… "You're…"

"A mother." Mana grinned, holding her baby daughter tightly.

Mahado looked proud of the pair as Yami gave him a questioning look.

"What's her name?"

"Nakia, it means pure."

"It's Egyptian." Mahado said as Kari cooed over the baby and Mana passed her over to the hikari, who held her carefully.

"She's beautiful." Kari murmured, "You're so lucky."

"Congratulations." Yami grasped Mahado's arm, "And it's good to see you back."

"We're likely to stay for a while." Mahado said, "Though I will have to pop back at times, to deal with the odd Shadows." Mahado's eyes wandered to Harry, "I hear you've managed to link yourself to Pharaoh and Lord Yugi."

"Lord?" Yugi questioned.

"You've risen to heir, my Lord, you're more then just Yugi now." Mahado answered, not taking his eyes from Harry.

"I am linked to Yami and Yugi now, but we don't know how it happened. Yami thinks it's because he helped me cast spells to protect my mind against intruders and there's so much of his magic in my head that it's binding us."

"That wouldn't explain the link to Lord Yugi, in theory Pharaoh should be playing piggy in the middle for the two of you." Mahado frowned, "Tell me everything."

So they did, the task forgotten in the wake of the return of the monsters, who wanted to know everything, pledged their help in protecting Harry and Kari if something went wrong and told them everything that had happened upon their return to the Monster World.

Mahado looked troubled once Harry and Yami had explained.

"It shouldn't be possible, unless removing Voldemort created a vacuum that then latched onto your minds…" Mahado paused, "Harry saw you first when he came round, and took some of your magic first, which you share with Yugi, right?"

Yami nodded.

"It's possible that Harry's Ba, or life energy was weakened from the Shadow Game, and when you offered Harry some of your own magic to help replenish his own, his magic made a link to yours and by extension Lord Yugi's, and since he hasn't burned up the magic that you gave him the link still stands."

"Does this mean that I have to remove my magic from the shields in his mind?"

"At this point, Harry would have to be severely magically drained for him to start burning your magic instead of his own." Mahado shook his head, "The magic in the mental defences don't change anything except that the link's a little more stable."

"Great…" Yami groaned.

"It's not so bad." Harry attempted to reassure him, "And I'd rather be linked to you and Yugi then Voldemort."

"That's not really a recommendation Harry."

"Well, who would you rather have in your head?"

"Point."

Silence fell for a moment, before Tobias, who'd gone quiet while Mahado had been talking started telling Joey about the Red Eyes Black Chicks that had arrived recently, which led to Kari asking how new Duel Monsters were formed, when they weren't children of existing Duel Monsters.

This led to a long conversation about Ba and Ka which only ended when Harry yawned and he and Kari were pushed into rooms, while Mana retreated to her room in case Nakia woke up in the night, and the rest settled on the sofa or in the chairs.

Sleep, even with how tired they were, was a long time coming.


	11. The First Task

"You ready for this afternoon?" Kari asked, early the next morning as the two attempted to eat breakfast before the rest of the group had come down from washing after training.

"I suppose." Harry said morosely.

"Do you have the spell working?"

Harry nodded.

"Then what's to worry about?" Kari asked, "Your plan has a better chance of working then mine, I'm not even sure the spell's going to be strong enough."

"You're trying to chain it down, right?"

"Uh huh, it's like that 'Incarcerous' spell that Quirrell was using back in first year, but for chains instead of ropes."

"At least you're doing something sane!"

"You didn't have to take Yami's advice." Kari pointed out. "But it is the best you've had so far."

"If you're comparing it to Malfoy's 'you should just roll over and die now, Potter' that's not saying much."

"True but I have a point."

"A lousy one."

"It's still a point."

Yesterday's 'fun' Divination lesson had done nothing to improve Harry's mood and when they were finally joined by the last of the gang, Harry quite happily hid behind the much larger Joey while Kari was kept so deep in conversation by Ombre and Hermione, those who wanted to wind her up didn't get a look in.

Class seemed to vanish without any time passing at all, and it was only by dint of Yugi keeping them level headed, that they got through them without killing someone, specifically the someones who kept saying things like, 'oh we'll see you at the funeral' and 'don't worry, we'll keep the path to the hospital wing clear'.

Before the pair knew what was going on, it was lunch time, not that they ate much, and Professor McGonagall was coming to get them.

"Now," She said as she led them down into the grounds and around the Forbidden Forest, where, Harry noted in a mental aside to Yugi and Yami, the dragons had been shielded from view using a tent, "Don't panic. We have got wizards on hand in case the situation gets out of hand, just do your best and no one will think any worse of you… are you alright?"

Kari just nodded as Harry answered. She had the feeling the babbling was aimed more at her friend then at her anyway. She walked with them, right up until they reached the entrance of the tent, which was facing towards from them, "You two are to wait here, with the other champions and wait your turn. Mr Bagman is in there, he'll be telling you the procedure, good luck…"

"Thank you." Kari half bowed and entered the tent.

"Thanks." Harry nodded, and followed, to find Kari was in fact playing with her cartouche she'd gotten years ago and that he hadn't seen her wear in just over a year, stood a little to one side of the tent. While a pale and clammy Fleur sat in a corner on a stool and Krum looked surlier then usual.

"Ah Harry, come in." Bagman said happily, "Now we're all here, it's time to fill you in. When the audience has gathered, I'm going to offering each of you this bag," He held said bag up, "From which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face. There are… different…types, you see and your task is to recover the Golden Egg."

Harry and Kari glanced at each other, nodded just once and settled into a corner of the tent to discuss Duel Monsters tactics to try and get their mind off the bloody great big dragons they were about to fight.

" _Arena's nearly full, it's almost time."_ Harry heard Yugi murmur and gulped.

"No mind links Harry." Kari reminded him.

"I know."

Once the sound of feet passing the tent had stopped, Bagman started opening the sack.

"Ladies first." He offered it to Fleur and Kari.

"Go on." Kari motioned to Fleur.

Fleur stuck her hand in, and drew out a tiny, but perfect model of a Welsh Green with the number two around it's neck. From Fleur's lack of surprise, the pair figured that Madam Maxine had in fact told her what was to come.

Kari's hand went in, and came back with a blueish grey Swedish Short-Snout with the number one tied around its neck.

"Great, just great."

Krum looked just as unsurprised as Fleur and Kari, and drew out the Chinese Fireball, with the number three.

This, of course left Harry with dragon number four, the Hungarian Horntail. It stretched it's wings and bared its teeth at him.

"There you are, Miss Ironhide, you'll be first, if you want to wait by that entrance…" Kari nodded, putting the dragon in her pocket and drawing her wand. "Harry, could I have a word? Outside?"

"I dunno, we're kind of avoiding being alone with anyone at the moment," Kari said, looking over. "Especially after Skeeter's article."

"Understandable, but I'm not the press…"

Harry looked at Kari, who shrugged and turned back to the entrance.

By the time Harry got back Kari was emerging from it, looking pale.

"Good luck." Harry told her, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

"You too." Kari grinned slightly.

Harry was in the tent only seconds before the roar of the crowd told him that Kari was now facing her dragon.

* * *

Stepping out into the arena wasn't actually the hard part, for someone as used to large crowds as Kari was, it was in fact the easiest part of the whole situation.

The hard part was the huge bluey grey dragon facing her.

Duel Monster dragons she could handle, she did it way too easily and way too often.

But this was very different, and as she dived under the dragon's fiery breath, she turned as she carried on rolling, and got back up, "Redimio!"

Chains appeared out of nowhere, conjured by the spell, holding the dragon and allowing Kari to get close to the nest...

She froze as she heard the chains groaning and heard something snap, diving to the ground in time to avoid having her head taken off by broken chain.

Attempting to cast it again, Kari had to retreat for the moment to avoid searing flame and wildly thrashing tail. The dragon, still half bound, had enough leeway to attempt to flame her to cinders.

Kari dove under one lot of flames, narrowly avoided another, and cast again, "Redimio!"

The chains held long enough this time for her to grab the golden egg.

The crowd roared and Kari fled as she heard the creak again, missing the fact the tail was loose and had it slam into her back, causing her to go crashing into a pile of rocks, by which point the dragon keepers had moved in.

"Miss Ironhide?" One asked, noting with surprise that she'd protected the egg from impact and offering a hand up, "You OK?"

"Ow." She took it, wincing as her non-egg carrying arm protested the rough treatment, "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow."

At least that was over with…

She wondered if she could find somewhere to watch Harry's turn from.

Then she wondered who long it would be until Madam Pomfrey would be through with her and if she'd be finished by the time it was Harry's turn.

Kari took note of her scores and left.

* * *

Harry was terrified when he came out of the tent and entered the arena.

So far no one had come back after their task and either that meant that they were going somewhere else afterwards, maybe the crowd… his friends and magic bonds were easy to pick out of the crowd and Kari wasn't with them… or they'd been taken straight up to the hospital wing.

He seriously hoped it was the former of the two, but he couldn't allow himself to be distracted, as he tried to concentrate on nothing but what he needed… "Accio Firebolt!"

There was a horrible couple of moments when Harry was sure it hadn't worked, and then the broom was there, and the roaring crowd, the commentating, the fear, was ignorable when he left the ground, leaving the dragon the size of a dog, far below him.

Speeding downwards and spiraling around the dragon, making it dizzy and dodging flames, but he too was clobbered by the tail, it was just his bad luck that this tail was spiked and while it was only a graze, it hurt like no bodies business.

Finally he enticed the dragon to take off, acting as bait on a lure for her, rising slowly higher and higher and irritating her until she finally had had enough and took off in an attempt to eat that annoying little bug flying around her head.

Harry dived, immediately sensing Yami and Yugi's elation as he dove under the dragon, grabbed the golden egg and was soaring out over the stands, with the egg tucked under his uninjured arm, and to Harry it suddenly sounded like the crowd had exploded in noise.

Doubling back, he saw the dragon keepers rushing forward and Professors McGonagall and Moody rushing forwards, along with Hagrid, grins evident.

He landed next to them, Hagrid talking his ear off as they led him to the First-Aid tent, where the gang were already waiting.

"What I want to know," Kari said as Madam Pomfrey patched Harry up and sent him outside with the others to get his scores, "Is why bruises always take that much longer to heal, broken bones, a heartbeat, deep bruising…"

"What happened?" Harry asked, indicating her arm.

"Didn't watch the tail, as I'm likely to be reminded by everyone." She groaned.

With that they were descended upon by the gang, who had been kicked out of the first aid tent, by Madam Pomfrey, for hovering, who proceeded to sing their praises.

"What's the scoring system?" Harry asked.

"Marks out of ten from each of them." Kari advised, as Madam Maxine conjured a golden eight, they waited until all of Harry's marks were counted and then there was a another explosion of noise over which Yugi tried to explain something over the noise, gave up and sent, _"You're tied for first place with Krum, Kari's in third, Fleur's in last."_

Harry grinned at Yugi and looked at Kari, "Well done." She grinned, "You did much better then me from what I heard of it."

"We got em, didn't we?" Harry replied, "That's all that matters, one down, two to go."

Professor McGonagall hurried them towards the tent again and they stayed long enough to be told that the egg was a clue to the next task and be sent away, upon which they were pounced on again by the gang but this time they included two others.

"Grandpa!" Kari giggled, "What're you doing here?"

"Family are allowed to come and watch the tasks, you scared me half to death young lady."

"Sorry." Kari paused, noting that Harry was having a, rather forced, conversation with his cousin, who was going ape over the presence of dragons, "Did Sirius not come?"

"He's alright, just got into a bit of a scrap, so I said I'd bring Dudley."

A bit of a scrap wouldn't have stopped Sirius considering that he'd broken out of prison to stop Pettigrew killing Harry, but Yami refrained from mentioning this in order to let Kari and Harry enjoy their victory.

"Kari." Seto was hovering about halfway back to Hogwarts, eyes widening at the sight of who was with them. "Muto Solomon." Kaiba bowed.

Solomon frowned, "Kaiba Seto." He bowed back.

There was a tense moment while the two looked at each other, and Seto realized that the old man still hadn't forgiven him for ripping his Blue Eyes. Not that Kaiba could blame him, he wouldn't forgive someone for wreaking one of his dragons either.

Then Kari grinned at him, "I bet you want one of those now to guard the mansion, right Seto?"

"I might think about it."

"He so wants one." Mokuba giggled as he passed with his girls, "See you back in the Common Room, well done guys!"

"What's he planning?" Yami frowned.

"When do you have to go back?" Kari asked.

"I have a flight back tomorrow, but I'm getting a floo with Dudley to the hotel later on. Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No!" Kari laughed, "I just wondered."

"I have a couple of students working for me at the moment and they've got the shop covered, it's not like it's Tournament season."

"Hello." The group stopped, Solomon wondering why suddenly they were all scowling.

"Miss Skeeter." Kaiba moved to the front of the group.

"I was just wondering if I could have a word with Harry."

"No." Seto shook his head, "You'll kindly leave the area without speaking to any of those present, otherwise you'll find my company breathing down your neck. After your last article accused one of my employees of dating underage children, you'll find that my company can do a lot to make your life unpleasant."

Skeeter left, scowling.

"You do realize she'll accuse you of dating Harry next." Ombre said.

Seto shrugged, "I just wanted to congratulate Kari on the defeat of the dragon." He said, smiling at her slightly, "Now if I know the Weasley twins as well as I think I do, you'll have a party to get to, so…"

"Have a good night Seto."

"Enjoy your party."

Kari felt something move in her pocket and her tiny miniature dragon popped it's head up and looked at her. "Seto wait."

"Huh?" Seto turned to look at her.

"Look after him for me?" She asked, passing the little dragon over, where it settled on Kaiba's shoulder and went to sleep.

* * *

They sent a letter off to Sirius, written a little from each with great huge descriptions on how Harry and Kari had beaten their dragons and seen Grandpa Muto off, using the fireplace in Professor McGonagall's room, and by the time they returned to the Common Room the party was in full swing, food, drink even a bit of music provided by a laptop using Mokuba.

There was another round of cheers and Harry and Kari had to shout to be heard over the noise of the Common Room, the wet start Filibuster Fireworks that was making the air thick with stars.

Yami examined a pair of banners, typical examples of ones that hung all around the room, one of which depicted Harry flying around a dragon's head, the other depicting Kari stood atop a chained down dragon. Dean Thomas had to have done them, he recognised the art work.

Hermione ended up in a conversation with Fred and George about the House Elves, which was disturbed by Neville turning into a canary, while Harry and Kari tucked into massively heaped plates of food, golden eggs sat side by side as they tucked in.

"Whoa this is heavy." Seamus picked Harry's up, and shook it carefully. "What's in it?"

"We don't know." Kari answered between mouthfuls. "Something to do with the tasks."

"Go on, open it."

"Go on!" The sentiment echoed around the Common Room, so Kari shrugged, dug her nails into hers and prised it open.

It was hollow but the sound that issued from it was so horrible it was shut again in less then a couple of seconds. This led onto a helpful discussion by the guys as to what it could be including a Banshee, the Cruciatus Curse and Percy in the shower.

"Harry, can I…?"

Harry turned around to find Joey hovering nervously.

"Can you what?"

"Can I have your dragon?"

Harry laughed, unaware he was being watched miserably from the stairs to the boy's dorm, and handed over the miniature Hungarian Horntail, who instead of reacting as it had to anyone else, settled on Joey and peered out from over the top of his robes pocket at people.

"I think you'd make a good dragon handler." Harry laughed, pointing at the dragon, who snapped at his finger irritably.

"I may well become one." Joey said, leaning back against the wall and plonking his plate of food down, "But there's a long way to go and destinies to be fulfilled before that happens."

"Joey?" Harry asked, worried, since Joey tried to avoid being this deep if he could help it.

"I heard Yugi and Yami discussing Egypt." Joey said, "I'd completely forgotten in the excitement of the Tournament."

"When?"

"Not till the Summer, and then they're talking about get Isuzu to bring the tablet to Domino instead of going to Egypt, so Yami doesn't have to leave."

"That's cool."

"Uh huh." Joey nodded.

"So if he gets his memories back, do you think we'll have to address him as Pharaoh all the time?" Harry asked half jokingly.

"I'll address him as Royal-Pain-In-The-Arse if we do."

Harry laughed.

"You did good Harry. I want a dragon, but I don't know if I could have fought one like that."

"You could. You faced down Ra and nearly won, didn't you?"

Joey looked bashful.

"Ah hah!" Harry laughed, "I can get you to look bashful, it's not just a Yugi trick!"

With that he had to scramble halfway across the Common Room, Joey in hot pursuit calling something about noogies.

When Harry finally got up to the Common Room at one o'clock the next morning, Ron was already asleep, and Harry wondered if it was bad that he hadn't missed Ron during the festivities…

However, that line of thought didn't last very long as Harry changed and slipped into bed, the events of the day finally catching up to him, and he joined the others in slipping into a dreamless sleep.


	12. Sunset

Joey approached his dates with trepidation. It was mid-December and while he was looking forward to the ball now that he'd been on a few dates with the girls, and was certainly getting on better with them then Yami was with Astraea, but he had a proposition for them that he wasn't sure they were going to like.

He had to ask them before he went before Professor McGonagall, but he was dreading their reactions.

He'd mentioned in a letter to Serenity that they were having a 'Yule Ball' and that it was on Christmas Day and in response to that, Serenity had replied saying that there was nothing interesting going on at her school for the holidays and that she wished she could come to the ball.

Joey had been thinking on it, and didn't see why, since he figured that the students from the other schools would be allowed to bring their partners from home, why he couldn't sneak his little sister in. However, first he had to check it was ok by his dates and then he'd have to convince the school.

There was a Hogsmead trip today, to allow people to pick up Christmas presents before they went home, not that many people were, what with the Yule Ball coming up, and Cordi and Alecia were waiting for him by the doors to the great hall, discussing an assignment they'd been given for potions, and grinned as he approached, bombarding him with questions about a rumour they'd heard.

"Woah girls." Joey held up his hands, "I thought we'd already established the truth about our ages and where we came from."

"You didn't tell us you were famous!" Cordi giggled.

"Oh…" Joey facepalmed, "Yeah, we try to avoid telling anyone that. Yugi and Yami have enough fangirls of the Muggle verity, without having the same problem with Witches."

Alecia laughed, "So that was what that was about… we did wonder."

"Huh?"

"When Lockheart was still teaching. You remember Valentine's Day, don't you?"

"Oh yeah." Joey cringed, remembering the pile of letters and the fact that had been when he and Kari had gotten together…stupid Bakura.

"Joey?" Cordi sounded concerned as they headed down to Hogsmead.

"Ummm…I've told you about my little sister, haven't I?"

"Serenity, right?" Alecia asked. Joey nodded, ""What's wrong?"

"Nothing, but she mentioned that she'd like to come to the ball and all of the guys have dates and I was wondering if it was alright if…"

"You'd like to bring her as well." Alecia nodded.

"If I can get permission."

"I don't see why not." Cordi giggled, "I mean Serenity's a Witch, isn't she?"

"Uh huh."

"I don't mind. Will she have anyone to dance with though, if she has to share you with us?"

"The guys have already said they'll take it in turns to dance with her and most of their dates don't mind."

Alecia snorted, wondering if it was Yami's date that was being awkward. "Sure, I want to meet the girl you've talked our ears off about. You said she was looking at becoming a Healer, didn't you?"

"Uh huh."

"Cool, we'll have something to talk about then." Cordi looked delighted.

Joey sighed, relieved and started planning what he was going to say to Professor McGonagall, the two girls giving him a helping hand.

* * *

Yugi barely dodged a snowball thrown by his date, who was giggling and helping her friend pelt her boyfriend.

They'd retreated to the field by the Shrieking Shack in order to have a riotous snowball fight, without getting into trouble in with anyone.

"At least Luna's not here." Mokuba panted, ducking behind Yugi and allowing the older one to get coated in snow. "She and Harry seem to be getting on really well."

Yugi didn't get to answer as he was pounced on, sending him sprawling backwards into the snow. "Hi Rebecca."

"Hi Yugi." She giggled, watching as Ginny pounced on Mokuba.

"You know, I'm going to get a cold, led like this."

"I know."

"So can I get up?"

"Nope."

"If I'm ill, I can't take you to the ball."

Rebecca thought about it, then scrambled off and helped him to his feet. In exchange, Mokuba, who had wriggled out from under Ginny, shoved a snowball down Rebecca's jumper, causing her to shriek and start pelting Mokuba relentlessly. Of course Yugi had to join in, causing Mokuba to protest because Yugi was supposed to be on his side.

So Ginny took a snowball, and snuck up on Yugi, attempting to shove it down his jacket, failing miserably and ending up with a face full of snow for her efforts.

"I'm just sorry you two can't go to the ball." Yugi said, as they finally bored of getting each other snow coated and headed down the hill towards the Three Broomsticks.

Mokuba grinned and Ginny giggled.

"Alright, what are you two planning?"

"I happen to have been asked to the ball by Ryou." Ginny said, still giggling.

"But I thought he was taking Ombre."

"No, Ombre's taking me." Mokuba said with a straight face.

Then it clicked and Yugi laughed, "Not that there's going to be a partner swap early on in the evening at all is there?"

"No." Mokuba denied, "You'd never catch us doing any such thing."

Yugi decided that 'catch' was the important word there.

"So?" Rebecca laughed, "Butterbeer?"

"Warm Butterbeer." Yugi emphasised.

They reached the bottom of the lane and headed down the high street. "I'll catch up with you." Rebecca laughed, "I just want to pop into a store down the road, some of my potions supplies are getting low."

"You sure you don't want a hand?"

"I can handle it."

"Never said you couldn't, I just wondered if you wanted a hand."

"No, I'll be fine, thank you."

"Ok, see you in the Three Broomsticks."

* * *

"Hermione!"

Hermione jumped and turned around, seeing Kari weaving through the crowds to wards her.

"Hi Hermione," Kari grinned, face rosy with the cold, "Hello Krum." Kari half bowed to Hermione's date as the crowd parted for Seto, allowing him through, before they closed in again. "It's a bit mad today, isn't it?"

"When are we going to mention that thing?"

"Which thing?" Kari frowned, hand going to the disk that hung on a cord around her neck.

"You know, the one for just in case."

"Oh, the ingredients came this morning." Kari nodded, "So we're just waiting on the OK from the others. So later, maybe?"

"Ok." Hermione giggled.

"Viktor Krum" Kaiba nodded to the international Quidditch Player, before turning to the two girls, "I've spoken with Mokuba about this, and we'll go along with it if the plan goes ahead."

"Alright," Hermione looked slightly relieved, "Thanks Seto."

Seto shrugged, "It's in our best interests."

Hermione laughed, "You just feel left out."

"No, that's Mokuba." Seto said, trying not to smile, "I've already worked out we're part of the family, no matter how much I might protest."

Hermione and Kari laughed, "Alright, we'll mention it tomorrow at training."

"OK, meanwhile, I believe I offered to buy you lunch." Seto said to Kari, who nodded.

"See you later, Hermione." Kari and Seto shot off.

* * *

It was very hard to buy sweets when your date kept making funny comments about your choices, however, Harry was quite happy to put up with it, since Luna's comments were all about how the sweets seemed to multiply every time they came in, and did they hire Yugi to use multiply on them and that she wondered if the shop had a Farbat to prevent mice getting in and eating the sweets.

"Oh, they do have a Farbat, look."

Harry looked where Luna was pointing, but couldn't see the difference between the bat that hung upside down in the rafters and the thing Luna had described as a Farbat.

Of course, admitting this, led to a lecture on the differences between the two.

Harry found Luna was a refreshing change from the pace of reality. She was grounded enough in it to know when to stop and let things go, but was off in her own world often enough that Harry could take holidays there and not think about the fact that neither he or Kari had managed to work out how to get the clue from the egg, bar that horrible screeching noise.

"What do you think?" Harry asked, holding up a bag of jelly spiders and a couple of boxes of chocolate frogs, "Sweets for the twins?"

"Fred and George would like anything that isn't another sweater." Luna pointed out.

"Point." Harry took the sweets along to the till, "Do you have everything you want?"

Luna put her purchases down on the till. "Uh huh."

"Cool, butterbeer next?"

"Can I have warm Butterbeer instead?"

* * *

Yami and Astraea had come to an agreement. She got to spend part of the day with her friends and then Yami got to meet up with the Gryffindor group later on.

Currently the two were in the Three Broomsticks, warming up with a hot drink, not really saying much, but the funny thing was that they'd gotten past the really awkward phase, where they hadn't know what to say to each other, and would often discuss issues like the work they had in school, or issues brought up in articles that weren't written by Rita Skeeter. Intellectual issues, that Slytherins could be interested in, after all, especially when one was graduating soon, you had to know the issues out there to be able to make informed decisions and manipulate people into following them.

Yami often surprised Astraea with his level of depth and understanding. She wasn't an all out Gryffindor hater like some of her friends, but Yami was the first one she'd really spent any time with, and he had a surprisingly large amount of Slytherin traits and while he was too loyal to his friends to admit it, he would have made a very good Slytherin.

Dark didn't necessarily mean evil, and Yami knew it.

And Astraea found that she liked the fact.

Alright, so she could do without some of his friends, but even there, from what she'd seen, there were those who would have fitted in better in other houses.

She never quite knew how to take the teen she was dating either, he had a sharp mind, and a wit to match, but he never seemed to relax long enough for her to get to know the Yami underneath all of the barriers and defensives. It was as if he was expecting an attack at all times and didn't want to let anyone in, for fear of getting anyone else hurt.

The courage to face things alone, was that why he'd been placed in Gryffindor when he would have been much better suited to Slytherin?

"Are you alright?" Yami asked, with a tilt of his head that reminded her of his twin brother, "Do you need a refill?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you." Something amused the Gryffindor about her reply, and she would have asked what it was, but he'd already headed up to the bar to get his own drink, meeting up with one of the Ironhides, Astraea figured that it was Ombre, since she was with the Hufflepuff Bakura, or rather Ryou Bakura.

That was another thing she didn't understand about their group, she was certain that almost identical twins weren't that common, but there were three pairs who had all transferred to Hogwarts, Yugi and Yami Muto, Kari and Ombre Ironhide, and Ryou Bakura and Bakura Malfoy, and she was sorry, but something was up with that last pair at least, because there was no way Bakura Malfoy had formerly been Bakura Bakura.

Of course they all knew the rumours, but not many people believed that Yami, Ombre and Bakura were really spirits who had managed to gain bodies of their own, after all, there were ways, but none of them really seemed dark enough to do them, not even Bakura and that was saying something.

She watched as Yami chuckled at something Ombre had said, and waved over his brother and his date, that irritatingly smart Ravenclaw girl, Hawkins or something.

She couldn't complain, however, he had had to sit with her friends and put up with their pointed comments, so she figured that she had to do the same, if she wanted to keep him interested in her.

Yami was back first, in the middle of a conversation that could have been greek for all that she understood it. She knew it was about that 'Duel Monsters' game they played, and were in fact the best players in the world, but she didn't understand where the conversation had come from.

Right up until Yugi started laughing and explaining that Kaiba had challenged him at the top of the high street, so they'd used their Duel Disks and fought it out there and then and now Yugi was hiding from the CEO because his Sunrise Magician had knocked some of the branches of a tree above Kaiba and now Kaiba was soaked through because of the snow.

With that, Yugi sneezed.

"I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave." Astraea prodded.

"Brave yes," Yugi agreed, with a smile, pulling out a chair for Rebecca and then sitting himself, "Particularly fond of getting snowballs down the back, which is what Seto was threatening, no."

Astraea and Yami laughed.

"You did win, though?" Yami asked, sounding unconcerned but like he wanted confirmation.

"Yeap." Rebecca giggled, putting her bags carefully under the table, "Easily, Seto got distracted, what with all the snow down his trenchcoat."

"You do realise…" Yami started.

"He's already asked for a rematch." Yugi laughed. "I think that was a record for him as well."

"Two point four three seconds." Rebecca giggled.

"I don't get it." Astraea said, looking at the three sat with her, "What is the big deal with Duel Monsters anyway? I mean I get that you two," She indicated Yami and Yugi, "Are the best in the world, but I don't understand why it's such a big deal."

With this, she was introduced to the game and most of the things surrounding it.

She hadn't realised it was so influential in the Muggle world…

* * *

"Goodnight, Bakura."

Bakura smiled and held his date's hand a moment longer, "Diana, wait."

The seventh year Gryffindor gave him a puzzled look. She'd spent all day with the Tomb Robber, and it hadn't been dull to say the least, it was amazing how much there was to do in Hogsmead if you really looked.

The only thing they'd done the same so far was get hot drinks at The Hog's Head, other then that, they had done so many things; Diana's head spun just thinking about it.

"Yes, Bakura?"

"I wanted to thank you for not interfering earlier." Bakura said,

"What was that about?" Diana asked, flicking dark blue, almost black hair over her shoulder, "Should I have?"

The issue in question had been when Bakura had approached Ron Weasley for some reason. He'd asked her to stay back, and when it hadn't looked like they were going to do more then glare at and talk or shout at each other, Diana had stayed back. She had a feeling that the conversation between the two had been something to do with Potter's group and those odd gold things that seemed incredibly important to that whole group as well as a few people outside of it.

"It's nothing important, I hadn't realised Weasley was as far out of the group as he is. He must have done something monumentally stupid for even Yugi to stop talking to him."

"Weasley's jealous." Diana explained the situation as most Gryffindors understood it, "He stopped talking to the group because Potter got into the Triwizard Tournament and managed to anger the others by accusing them, to their faces, of putting Potter's name in."

"But everyone was accusing them of that." Bakura frowned, "Not that those goody two-shoes ever would…"

"Then he was entirely unsympathetic when Potter's relatives were killed," Diana continued, "And now he's refusing to apologise, because he's realised that they don't actually need him. They certainly don't miss him."

"It has to be said that I don't blame them." Bakura said, "Ron Weasley isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed and even Yugi has his limits on how much stupidity he can tolerate from his friends."

"That might not be the full story." Diana warned, "But that's as much as we Gryffindors understand, which is certainly more then the other houses."

"Thanks."

"S'ok." Diana gave him a reassuring grin, "Guess you'll just have to find out what you wanted to find out some other way."

"Uh huh." Bakura sounded really enthusiastic on that point making Diana laugh.

"On that note, today has been amazing, but I have homework of my own to do…"

"G'night Diana."

"Good night Bakura."

A kiss and then Diana headed up to her Common Room, while Bakura headed down to the dungeons. Diana was not the only one with work to do.

* * *

"Professor McGonagall?"

The Professor in question paused to let the student who was calling her catch up, wondering who could possibly want her help at this time of night on a Saturday, and found herself surprised to find that it was Joseph Wheeler. "Mr Wheeler?"

He nodded nervously, making her frown and wonder what had happened this time, "What is it?"

"Who are we allowed to bring to the ball?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… If I wanted to bring someone from home, would I be allowed?"

"I thought you had two dates."

"I do, but I've asked them and they don't mind, as long as I'm allowed to bring her."

"And she is a Witch, right?"

"Yes Professor, she's a student at a magic school in Japan."

"And she has permission to travel?"

"Yes Professor." Joey nodded. "We've been trading letters all term, so I know she's free to come, if I'm allowed to bring her."

"I don't know…"

"I just thought I'd ask." Joey sighed, "She just happened to mention how much she'd love to come, and it would be an opportunity to show an intelligent witch, who happens to be graduating this year, the kind of hospitality English witches and wizards could provide…"

"Mr Wheeler, I hope you're not trying to sway my decision…"

"No, I'm no good at that outside of Duels." Joey shrugged, "I just thought I'd bring it up."

"Hmm. You do realise I'd have to speak to Professor Dumbledore."

"I know, but you're my Head of House, so I figured I should come to you first."

"And I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you Professor." Joey bowed, "Have a good evening."

"You too, Joseph."

Joey grinned at her and headed up to the dorm, where, no doubt, his friends were waiting for the news. Professor McGonagall shook her head, amused by the group, who seemed to have the monopoly on weird goings on, and headed up to her office, wondering how she could broach the subject with Professor Dumbledore.

* * *

"Guys, wait."

When Yami turned around to look at the two girls, he suddenly found himself glad that it was the weekend, since it looked like they had a lot to say. "What's up?"

"Well…" Kari looked around quickly, not that she expected anyone to be around, and then said those immortal words, "We've been thinking…"

"Uh oh, hit the dirt!" Joey yelped, causing Ombre to punch him in the arm. "Ow!"

"Haha, very funny Joey." Hermione said, glaring, then sighed, and turned to the others, "After the Dursleys were killed, we decided that we were going to look up the magical laws on guardianship, just in case something happened to someone else's family…" _Or to Sirius…_ Hermione thought but didn't add, "Apparently, in the absence of another family member, or appointed guardian, the child in question would in fact become a ward of the state and, in the case of pure or half bloods, would be placed with the closest related family, however muggle born children don't get that treatment." Hermione sounded peeved, "They get left with whatever family is willing to take them in or have to find somewhere by themselves, the laws don't even come into effect unless it happens during your school years!"

"That can't be right…" Yugi frowned, "What happened to all the children orphaned during the war?"

"Left to fend for themselves mostly." Kari growled. "Oh, and the best part is that we worked out that the closest related family to Harry, after the Blacks, are in fact the Malfoys."

"You're joking!"

"We wish." Seto growled, "I've been sat in on the planning sessions and the girls had me check their findings. In the event of something happening to Harry's Guardian, he would be placed with the Malfoys."

"So what do we do about it?"

"Normally there's nothing we could do." Kari said, "But we found a loophole."

"What is it?" Harry asked, not really wanting to have to live with Bakura and Draco.

"It's called the 'Clan Law', where a bunch of magical families can come together under one banner, and look after the children of other Clan families legally, as well as providing other bonuses, like part citizenship of which ever countries the Clan Members come from, for example, we'd end up British and Japanese."

"We could possibly have Egyptian citizenship as well, but we'd have to check that." Kari pointed out.

"Under Clan Law, if a Clan child is left without a parent or guardian, the guardianship automatically defaults to the naturally oldest Clan Member."

"So me, rather then Ombre." Seto nodded.

"So I'd be Harry Kaiba?"

"Not unless you want to be." Hermione shook her head, "It's complicated but basically being a Clan means that we don't have to give up our family names, but we're still considered family under magical law." She giggled, "So while we're all from different families, our usual rule of 'pick on one of us, pick on all of us', is much more understandable and actually recognised as a valid response by the Wizarding community."

"We would also have first right of refusal if something happened to Grandpa and Joey, about where Yami ended up, instead of Bakura." Seto said, reminding Yami of what the American government had said, and the fact that he was, in fact, classed as little more then a pet by Wizarding law.

Ombre was suddenly glad that someone had registered her as human, rather then a pet. Of course the gang would have done that for Yami too, had they not known too late, about the registration laws.

But who had registered her? That was the question that no one had been able to answer. Kari thought she knew, but she hadn't been able to work up the courage to ask.

"So what would we have to do to become Clan?" Yugi asked, more then happy to go along with it.

"We were waiting for the ok from you guys to request the paperwork, but we already have the potion ingredients."

"That was fun." Hermione rolled her eyes in a manner that indicated the exact opposite.

"What sort of potion?" Joey asked, "I mean, is this blood magic or…?"

"Not really." Kari frowned, "The potion is more to provide verification that the forms weren't signed under duress. All it requires is that you drink a mouthful and make sure you put a droplet of blood in the correct place on the form."

"Apparently it goes green on the page if you willingly signed the document." Hermione grinned.

"Ewww, mouldy blood."

"Thank you for that lovely image." Harry twatted Joey.

"We're in." Seto indicated himself and Mokuba, who, with his friends, had started coming down to training with them after the first task, "Kari, Ombre and Hermione are in as well…"

"I'm in." Harry nodded, "I don't really want to end up with the Malfoys."

Yami and Yugi looked at each other and nodded, "We'll take part."

"Me too." Joey nodded.

"I wanna be part of the family too." Rebecca complained.

"You'd need your Grandpa's permission." Seto said, looking at her.

"I'll get it." Rebecca nodded. "How long do I have?"

"I think we should have everything ready for the day of the second task." Kari said, thoughtfully, "It'll depend on how long the paper work takes to arrive."

"I want in." Ginny said, "And I think we should include Fred and George too."

"Why?"

"Because they've got as much right to be family as the rest of you considering how often they helped Yugi out during third year." Ginny said stubbornly.

"She has a point." Yugi said, remembering the fun and games he and Boh had had around the time of the Quidditch Finals.

"We'll ask." Yami said, nodding, "The worst they can do is say 'No'."

"Do I have get Mum's permission?" Ginny double checked.

"You're underage, so yes." Hermione nodded, "I've already asked my parents."

"Does this mean I have to ask Sirius?" Harry asked, suddenly realising what it meant.

Kari nodded, "I wouldn't have thought he'd mind though, since it's a protective measure for all of us, not a slur on how well he could look after you."

"If I'm allowed, I would like to be a part of the family." Luna said, "I'm sure my father would allow it."

"Sure, you're one of us, aren't you?" Joey grinned, then he turned to Kaiba, "Of course you do realise that as 'brothers' we have the right to kick each other's butts."

"Please," Seto snorted, "If you can't beat me now, being my 'brother' won't change a thing."

"So we're all in?" Kari looked relived and amused as everyone nodded. "Cool, one question, what name do I put on the application paperwork as our Clan name?"

"Something really cool." Joey said enthusiastically and didn't stop making suggestions the entire way up to the school.

Seto poked Yugi, "Rematch?"

"After we've had a bath and eaten breakfast." Yugi said, grimacing, "As much as the training is helping, I hate being all sweaty like this."

"All right, I'll meet you outside the Great Hall after breakfast."

"Fine." Yugi mock-glared, "But I'm not gonna go any easier on you because we'll be brothers soon."

"Good, I'd have to withdraw my acceptance of a place in the Clan otherwise."

Yami, who'd overheard, snorted, which caused Yugi to shove him.

Yami shoved back.

So Yugi shoved back again, making Yami stagger this time, falling on his rear and getting coated in the mud that had replaced the snow over night.

"Now I really need a bath." Yami complained, paused then and looked at Yugi, who squeaked and attempted to flee.

He didn't get very far as Joey grabbed him, and soon the boys were involved in what was basically a mud wrestling match, which Seto took no part in… until Joey just happened to 'accidently' splash mud on his t-shirt.

"Who knew," Ginny commented as Seto proceeded to get Joey covered in mud, "That Kaiba was as big a kid as the others."

"I did." Mokuba grinned, then got mud to the face.

* * *

"You ready Seto?" Yugi called, Duel Disk active and facing the CEO of Kaiba Corp, who smirked, casting the charm to make it work and activating his own Duel Disk and nodding. "You wanna go first?"

"No, you can have the pleasure." Kaiba waved at him.

Yugi nodded, drawing his first hand and jumping at the card in it. He hadn't actually drawn it since he'd managed to pick up his own copies of Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, but it was one of a combo that had saved him during the events of the first Summer, that was the reason he hadn't taken it and the card it went with out of his deck yet.

Well, it looked like it wanted to play today, so he'd see if he could get it on the field.

"You playing or staring at your cards all day?" Kaiba taunted.

"Ah stow it, Seto." Yugi replied, summoning Obnoxious Celtic Guard in attack mode and placing a card face down. "It's your move."

"I summon Lord of D. in attack mode and play Flute of Summoning Dragon."

It seemed like it was a day of old tactics, as Kaiba brought two Blue Eyes White Dragons to the field and attacked Yugi's guardian, inflicting 3200 life points worth of damage, but because of Obnoxious Celtic Guardian's effect, it wasn't destroyed.

"When did you put those back in?" Yugi asked as he drew and switched Celtic Guard to defence mode and set a card in defence mode. "Lord of D. and your Flutes? We haven't seen 'em for a while. Your move, by the way."

"Last night," Seto answered, drawing, "I knew you didn't have anything to counter it." He set a card face down, "And I end my turn."

"True," Yugi admitted, "I don't have anything to stop you from summoning your Dragons, but I do have this," He held up the card he wanted, "I sacrifice my Celtic Guardian and my Alpha the Magnet Warrior for Sunset Magician."

Joey remembered this pair, Sunset Magician was one of two cards that worked in tangent with each other and gained attack and defence points when they were both on the field, but he didn't get it. Sunset Magician had only 2800 attack points, which still put him underneath Blue Eyes…

Until Yugi activated Mage Power and set another card in face, boosting his Magician by 1000, "Sunset Magician, Starlight Blast!"

The Magician, whose robes went from dark blue at the top to yellow at the bottom, as if there was a sunset on them, levelled his staff, with it's dark blue sphere on the top, at Seto's Lord of D. and fired a blast that left stars in it's wake.

Lord of D. exploded and Seto went down to 1400 life points.

"I end my turn."

"They haven't lost any of their skill." Joey commented from the side lines, "Even if the only people they get to fight nowadays is our group."

"You forget," Hermione said as Seto switched his Dragons to defence mode, "That they may only be fighting our group, but within it is the best Duellists in the world, if anything it's honing their skills."

"True, but we're a little rusty when it comes to fighting the new cards." Yami commented, "We're out of the loop here and if it wasn't for Kari's constant updates on what cards are coming out, we wouldn't know what half of the new cards do."

"I want to play next." Harry said, watching Yugi set a card in defence mode and use 'Starlight Blast' to destroy one of the dragons on the field as Kisara flew overhead.

"I'll play you." Kari nodded.

"Thanks."

Completely oblivious to the conversation, Kaiba drew, setting the card face down and activating his face down card, Burst Breath, giving up his Blue Eyes White Dragon to destroy Yugi's Sunset Magician, as Blue Eyes's attack was 3000 and Sunset Magician's defence was only 2100.

"And I summon Battle Ox in attack mode and attack your face down card."

Yugi giggled as it flipped face up, revealing his Marshmellon, which wobbled but didn't vanish as the attack struck it and Kaiba lost 1000 life points.

"I'm really beginning to hate that monster." Seto growled, "I end my turn."

Yugi grinned, "Yami hates it too, Marshmellon's like my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, but it can't be destroyed in battle at all."

Seto grumbled at him.

"I play Monster Reborn, by the way, to bring back my Sunset Magician and he attacks your Battle Ox."

"I activate Wish of Final Effort, allowing me to add Battle Ox's attack points to my life points." Kaiba went up by 1700 and down by 1100, putting him back on 1000 life points.

Yugi nodded and passed the turn back to Seto.

"I play Soul Release to remove my two Blue Eyes White Dragons from play, and I activate Monster Reborn, to bring back my Battle Ox." Yugi frowned, trying to work out what he was up to, "Confused, don't worry, you'll get it in a minute, I play Cost Down to allow me to sacrifice my Battle Ox for my third Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"Oh." Was all Yugi had to say on the matter as the third Dragon appeared on the field and blasted his Sunset Magician, leaving him with just 200 life points.

"I'll win next turn."

"I don't think so." Yugi said, drawing. "I pass."

"What?" He could hear the exclamations from his friends, but he had no monsters to summon.

"I activate Return from the Different Dimension." Seto looked… well… irritated wasn't the word for it. "To bring both my Dragons back into play!"

Facing the three dragons, Yugi looked just a little outnumbered.

"And I activate Dragon's Mirror!"

The three Blue Eyes White Dragons became Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

"Overkill much?" Joey asked.

Yami frowned.

"Nova Attack!"

The three heads fired on Yugi simultaneously.

"Kuriii!"

Harry grinned, recognising the sound, but for once Kaiba didn't seem irritated when Yugi was shielded from the attack by Kuriboh.

"I don't get it." Hermione said, "If he knew Yugi had Kuriboh in his hand, why didn't he attack with all three Blue Eyes White Dragons, instead of using the last card in his hand fusing them?"

"Are you even trying?" Kaiba growled, "You're much better then this Yugi."

"I'm not getting the right cards." Yugi growled back.

"So what, you can't beat me without the Gods."

"Of course I can."

"Then prove it."

"What's up with them?" Joey asked Yami.

"Kaiba doesn't want to finally beat one of us if we're not playing our best." Yami replied, "And Yugi hates being accused of not giving it his all."

"Come on, Yugi, show me what you've got."

Harry edged over to where Kari and Ombre were stood, over by the lake, "Um, Kari?"

"Yes Harry?" Kari asked, a little bit distracted by the duel.

"Kari… Do you hate Robyn?"

"Huh? What?! No! Why would you think that?" Kari wheeled around and stared at him.

Harry shrugged, "Robyn seemed pretty sure you hated her."

"What?" In a surprising demonstration of speed and strength, she had Harry by the collar and was dangling him over the lake before anyone realised she was moving, "What exactly did Robyn say?"

"I don't know!" Harry answered, trying to squirm out of Kari's grip, "Something about you never listening to her, that's all I remember, honest!"

"Kari! Put him down!" Yami snapped, already heading towards them, but he didn't need to interfere, as she dropped the young man, causing a splash as he hit the lake.

"Oh…" Kari said, "I don't hate her. I don't understand why she could even think that, I couldn't hate her."

Harry sighed at her from his position, sat in the lake, which luckily was only deep enough to reach his waist when sat like this.

"I… have to talk… have to explain…" Kari took a couple of steps back, not really looking at Harry now.

"Go." Ombre said, helping Harry up, "I'll tell you how the Duel pans out."

"Thanks." Kari nodded and rushed off towards the castle in time to miss Yugi using Mirror Force on Blue Eyes Ultimate and irritating Kaiba even further.

"She ok?" Yami asked as Yugi finished the Duel off by summoning Queen's Knight, who attacked Kaiba directly, wiping out the last of his life points.

"I don't know."

* * *

"Excuse me Professor, do you know where Miss Golden is?"

Professor Moody looked at her, his false eye only stopping on her for a moment as he caught her outside the staff room.

"No, however I was hoping to have a word with you."

"Yes Professor?"

"Well you see, I was wondering if you knew much about underwater creatures…"

* * *

"Did you find her?" Ombre asked, when they finally returned to the Common Room.

"No, but…" She looked at Harry, frowned and finally nodded towards the Girl's Dorm, leaving her Golden Egg in the care of Yugi and heading up with Ombre and Hermione.

"So she's found a clue then." Harry sounded relived.

"Guess so." Joey shrugged, sinking into the chair Kari hadn't long vacated, he pawed at her notes, "Breathing underwater? That doesn't look like fun."

"Sorry, did you just say breathing underwater?" Harry paled.

"That's what she's researching," Joey said, reading the complex notes, "And unless we're getting a mermaid in the Clan, I can't think of a reason we'd need that ability… alright I can think of a few but still…"

"Great, just great."

"Wait until Ombre or Hermione say something." Yami suggested, as the girls came back down and Kari glared at Joey until he vacated her chair.

"Come with me." Ombre grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him away.

Five minutes later Harry dove up to the dorm, grabbed his egg, and dove out the door again.

"Where's he going?" Yugi asked Ombre.

"To find out the clue inside his egg." Ombre shrugged with a small smile.

"So what's this about breathing underwater?"

* * *

"Kari doesn't hate you." Harry said quietly over a cup of tea, having literally run into her on the way back to the dorm from the Prefect's Bathroom. Robyn always made a good cup of tea.

"It doesn't matter."

"Why not? You said friends were important."

A humourless laugh. "I'm rather messed up. I've messed up so badly. I never thought... it doesn't matter." Robyn wiped a hand over her eyes.

"But can't you just talk to her? Kari just wants to talk."

"Would you want to talk to the person who ruined your life?"

"Yes."

"Would you want to talk to someone whose life you had ruined?"

"…No." Harry sighed. "But Kari's happy. I really don't understand why you think you ruined Kari's life."

"I suppose if she's happy... that's the most important thing."

"She would be happier if you would just talk to her."

Robyn sighed again. "Chances are she won't get me Robyn, she'll get Seer Robyn."

"Yeah... I don't get that, Yami, Kari and Ombre says you get all riddlely every time they speak to you, but you aren't now."

"It's the problem of the medium. I am going quite mad."

"Is that why you poisoned Yami?"

"I didn't poison Yami! He was perfectly safe!"

"Explain then the craziness."

"I can't. That shouldn't have happened."

"But it did."

"What it should have done was make any outsider see Yami's thoughts as a jumble of puzzle pieces, from lots of different puzzles. From Yami's reaction I would almost think he's an outsider in his own mind."

"It's not his yet." Harry pointed out, "Until he gets his memories back, he won't know or belong in his own mind."

"...That doesn't work, no matter the lack of memories, Yami... oh. Great. Yami's delusional..."

"That was your fault."

"No I mean, Yami believes he isn't the real Yami, he thinks he's the shadow, the memory of himself, not the real Yami."

"Huh, like most ghosts think of themselves as less than they were in life, like something's missing?"

"Who knows, it's Yami's head, I'm not going in there, even if I could.

"Could I?"

Robyn glared. "Never enter someone's mind without their permission. Never."

"But if I asked Yami?"

"He'll say no. Then no again when you get Yugi to ask, then no again when both of you ask, and I don't care how much you think you can grind Yami down, he doesn't want you in his mind, so take his first answer and be held to it."

"But..."

"No Harry. It isn't right. It isn't fair. And if you try it... we won't be friends any more."

"Is that why you won't be friends with Kari anymore? Did she do something..."

"She does a lot of things I disagree with, but I know of nothing she has done that I consider morally wrong."

"Then why?"

"Let dust be dust, and ash be ash, there is no phoenix here." Robyn said angrily, slamming her mug down and walking away.

"..."

"Sorry." Came the soft whisper, "Sorry for there be pain, and loss in green leaves, and blue fire, and more to come, so much more."

Harry slipped away.

* * *

"You checked the notice board?" Yugi asked as they waited for Harry to get back.

Joey didn't move from his seat but shook his head, prompting Yugi to wander over and check if there were any new notices.

"You might want to write to Serenity." Yugi called over.

"Oh yeah?" Joey asked, leaning backwards so that he could see Yugi, even if he looked upside down.

"Yeah," Yugi nodded, "In the interest of international cooperation and fairness to our visitors, a date may be brought to the Yule Ball from other Magical Institutions for Learning." Yugi quoted.

"You serious?" Joey grinned, leaning too far and falling backwards in the chair.

"Uh huh, says so right here."

"Great." Joey completely ignored the chair that had fallen and shot upstairs to get his writing stuff. "One letter coming up."

Harry was back by the time Joey came back down again.

"You know what the clue is now?" Kari asked.

Harry nodded, "An hour? Underwater?"

"I know." Kari grimaced, "I'm trying to find something to help now."

"What is the clue?"

"Come seek us where our voices sound,

We can not sing above the ground,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took."

Harry recognised the melody that Kari sang to be the same melody that the merpeople had sang.

"So they're going to let the merpeople steal something important to you and you have to find it in an hour?"

"Sounds like it."

"So… how do we breathe underwater?" Harry asked Kari.

"Not allowed to help." Kari reminded him. "But one of the books has to have something in it."

Harry nodded, and though Robyn's voice echoed in his mind, he picked up one of the books and started his own research the others soon joining them.

They didn't even notice when Joey slipped out to send his letter.


	13. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Joey was insufferable all of Christmas Eve, while he waited for his sister to arrive via Floo Powder. There was no training done by the group, instead, they were gathered around the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room, playing games and laughing and joking, just spending the time unwinding, and enjoying being in each others' company, they would be family soon enough and if they hadn't been showing it before, they certainly were now.

Finally Professor McGonagall called Joey out of the Common Room and the group grinned at each other, knowing how much this meant to the young man, who hadn't stopped talking about it since the notes had gone up on the Common Room notice boards.

"Gotcha!" Hermione laughed, as she managed to take out the last of Kari's life points by getting her Millennium Witch to destroy Kari's Dark Magician Girl, the Apparaître summoned monsters fading.

"Good game." Yami said, from his perch on the sofa, where he was reading a sci-fi fantasy book Hermione had leant him.

"Want to play?" Yugi asked, looking for a game from someone.

Yami, for a change, shook his head, causing Hermione to challenge Yugi and Kari to sink into the sofa next to him, amused as how engrossed in the book the Pharaoh was. "Good book?" She asked, shuffling her deck and putting it back in it's box, before fishing a book from the same series out of her bag.

"Uh huh." Yami didn't even look up.

Kari had to try hard not to giggle, it wasn't often the boys got engrossed in books, and it tickled her fancy that Yami was this engrossed in a book about Dragon Riders considering the stunt they had pulled at the Quidditch World Cup.

"You all ready for tomorrow?" Ginny asked from where she was sat, at a table behind the sofa.

There was a round of nods and grunts from the others, Harry leaning back to look at Ginny, who didn't seemed perturbed in the slightest that her boyfriend had been spending more time with his brother then in the Common Room over the last couple of days.

Kari smiled slightly as she remembered how much she owed Noa for the dress she had to wear, since she certainly wouldn't have gone out to get it fitted had Noa not practically banned her from the office until she went and picked up her school supplies and he'd received the receipt for the dress from the shop.

* * *

Kari didn't want to be here.

She had more important things to worry about then her dress robes.

Like the fact her friends were missing, one of her friends was missing a soul, the company that she worked for was going down in flames even with help from an unexpected source and she couldn't find the other half of her soul.

And yet Noa had basically ordered her to a high class dressmaker, the same one she'd been to before Von Stroder's stupid ball, Aoi Hanae, and told her that until her dress was ordered she wasn't allowed back into the Kaiba Corp building.

If she was honest, she needed this, she needed a chance to escape and unwind. She was surprised that Seto hadn't had a breakdown. However she wasn't being honest with herself, she was barely being rational at this point.

"Greeting Ironhide-Sama, we had a call from Kaiba Corp." A tall, elegant Japanese woman looked her over, "This way please."

"Hanae-San." Kari bowed. The woman had already turned and she followed her into a white room.

"Undress please."

Kari blushed.

"You don't have anything I haven't already seen." The woman looked amused, "I need to measure you."

Kari quickly undressed, taking an unusually long time over her top, finally sighing and dropping the blouse.

The woman's eyes roamed over her, as she came over with a tape measure, lingering for a moment on Kari's right shoulder. "I can hide that with the right dress." She said, taking the measurements as she went.

"I'm not ashamed of it." Kari said, looking at the woman sharply.

"I didn't say you had to be." The woman looked amused, "I was merely suggesting that it would be easier to attract a man if you didn't show any imperfections." There was a pause as she took some odd measurements. "Western style or Japanese?"

"Do you mean a kimono?"

"Yes. Or a western ball gown?"

"I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it."

"Mr Kaiba said this was a huge event." Hanae looked at her suspiciously.

"It is, I've just been preoccupied." Kari attempted a smile, but it felt so false she couldn't hold it for long.

"I wouldn't worry Ironhide-Sama, I'm sure they'll show up soon."

Startled brown met knowing green and Kari quickly looked away.

A knowing smile soon joined the look in the woman's eyes.

"I have an idea." She said, "Let me get something."

She was gone not more then five, ten minutes, long enough for Kari to get dressed again, before she came back with a roll of silver fabric, embroidered with a pattern that looked gorgeous, if Kari looked closely she could depict dragons.

"Ironhide-Sama?"

"It's…" Kari breathed.

Kanae-San's face fell. "No?"

"Yes, please." Kari grinned, "It's perfect."

* * *

For a moment Kari's left hand went to her right shoulder. She didn't even think about it anymore, unless it was brought up… she growled under her breath, remembering how she'd gotten the scar, but was distracted by Ombre's head going up and turning towards the door.

Joey was back, leading a slightly nervous looking young woman, whose eyes lit up when she saw Yami.

"Serenity!" Yami called, with a grin.

"Yugi!"

Everyone winced but Yami just laughed at the look on Serenity's face as Yugi's head popped up and grinned at her, "Hi Serenity."

The Common Room had gone quiet for a moment, but then it was all noise again as everyone practically bounced off the ceiling with excitement about tomorrow.

"Oops." Serenity laughed lightly, "Sorry Yami, hi Yugi."

"S'ok Serenity." Yami nodded with a reassuring smile.

"Sis, I'd like you to meet the rest of my family." Joey grinned, "The twin girls are Kari and Ombre."

"Hi." The two nodded to the teen.

"Hi." Serenity nodded back. "Which is which?"

"Kari." Kari held her hand up.

"Ombre." Ombre said, waving.

Serenity nodded trying to take in the differences so she didn't forget.

"Hermione is the one attempting to beat Yugi." Joey indicated the young witch sprawled in front of the fire, with her cards out.

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you." Hermione said, looking up, "Joey's been a nightmare since he got permission. Anyone would think he wanted to see you or something."

Serenity laughed.

"And somewhere around here is… Oi Harry!"

Yami mentally poked Harry, who had fallen asleep in the chair with a book on water based magic and he jumped a mile and fell off of the chair, making the group laugh.

"That's Harry, he's not normally that clumsy."

"Hi." Harry nodded, with a mock glare at Joey.

"It's nice to put names to faces." Serenity said, looking around, "Joey's mentioned all of you hundreds of times in his letters and I only knew Yugi properly."

 _`Doesn't she know?`_ Harry asked Yami, who glanced over at the teen, who was picking himself up.

' _Not everything. Not yet.'_

" _We haven't really had a chance to explain to her."_ Yugi filled in as Kari took Serenity upstairs to drop her stuff off in their dorm.

"Yugi…?" Hermione asked, "It's your turn."

"Sorry." Yugi settled back into Duelling, content to listen to Serenity explain about how things were going back home and fill in the gaps in his friend's chatter.

"Your English is really good." Hermione complimented, "Is it a translation spell or…?"

"No, Mum's been getting me some private tutoring." Serenity shook her head, "Just in case it comes in handy at a hospital or something."

"Cool."

"I'll be right back." Kari said, stretching and yawning.

"Where you going?" Harry asked, noting the fact she was taking her bag with her and wondering what was in it. You couldn't really tell anymore, since they'd all had their bags extended with the hold-all charm.

"I have something I need to drop off before tomorrow." Kari said, heading out the door without saying anything else.

"Last minute Christmas present?" Yugi asked.

"Think so." Ombre nodded, unsure herself.

Then the Weasley Twins descended and Serenity had to be warned off eating anything that they offered her, using Canary Creams, as a good example.

Fred and George looked most affronted when Joey took them aside and warned them off of his sister, something along the lines of 'prank her and we'll prank you', they kept clear after that.

"Sorry." Serenity finally said, yawning a couple of hours later, after playing games and just talking with the group, "I'm about nine hours behind myself."

"You should sleep." Joey advised. "Yugi'll have us all up ridiculously early tomorrow, he always does."

"I do not."

"Four am." Harry accused.

"Four thirty." Yugi countered.

"Four twenty seven actually." Yami said, settling it. "But that's not the earliest you've had us up."

"I'm not…"

"Well there was that year…"

"All right, all right." Yugi grumbled.

Serenity giggled at the look on Yugi's face.

"Night guys."

"Good night, Serenity." Yugi and Yami waved her off.

"Sis." Joey caught up with his sister at the bottom of the steps and gave her a hug, "It's good to see you."

"I've missed you."

"Missed you too." Joey said, sombrely, "I just hope you'll be able to cope with Yugi on Christmas morning."

"If I could survive you when you were little, I think I can survive Yugi." Serenity giggled, "He's a lot smaller then you for one."

"Serenity…" Joey whined.

"Night bro."

"Night little sis.

* * *

 

It was Christmas in the Gryffindor Common Room and all hell had broken loose at five o'clock this morning when Yugi had tried to wake everyone up, as was traditional now, and had been halfway around the Dorm when he'd been pounced on by Kana and pinned to the floor.

This, of course, had meant that Yami had accidently woken everyone else up by trying to reason with his cat.

It had taken the promise of a share of Christmas turkey to get the cat off of Yugi, after which all of the cats had followed them around all day, getting under their feet and generally causing a nuisance of themselves as Kaiba joined them in the Common Room, much to Mokuba's delight, and presents were exchanged.

Mokuba was trying to avoid getting caught by Rebecca, who had come in at the same time as Luna and Seto, having come in a group from the Ravenclaw Common Room, as well as dodge Ginny who was stalking him with the mistletoe.

Seto was watching, half with amusement and half wondering what exactly the girls had planned once they caught his little brother and wondering if he should stop it.

Meanwhile Yugi was playing with a new game his Grandfather had sent as a Christmas present, an improved form of Capsule Monsters, which was spread in front of the fire with Yami playing against him, new necklace glinting in the firelight, a double cartouche that was blank on one side and had 'Yami' in hieroglyphs on the other. Mokuba had been telling them about a few tricks of the game before the girls had pounced.

Joey was sprawled all over the sofa, waiting from his turn to play, and complaining loudly that Serenity, Luna, Kari and Ombre were sat on him. Their response was that he had to share the sofa and if he wouldn't make room then they were going to sit on him or at least that was Luna's response, Serenity was laughing too hard, Kari was too busy fiddling with her new fan, given to her anonymously. She thought she knew who it was from though. It was heavy… beautiful but heavy… and as Joey had found out, sharp.

Luckily Joey's anonymous present had been a bandage, just confirming for Kari who had sent them.

She'd heard of these, they were a really old type of weapon, designed for courtiers of the ancient Japanese Emperors and samurai so they were never unarmed. She wasn't sure how you'd use one in a modern setting, but she was sure that she could find out.

Harry and Hermione were busy, playing the board game that Yugi had given Hermione, and while Hermione was well away, and winning by quite a margin, Harry was too busy wondering exactly when life had gotten perfect to be as engrossed as his friend.

It had to be said, this was, in fact, the best Christmas ever. Somehow he was certain one day he was going to wake up and all of this was going to be a dream.

He wasn't the only one thinking like that, but the other one was too engrossed in a game to be thinking outside of tactics.

They were all for going out later, down to their usual spot at the lake, even with the mud, but for now, they were content to stay inside, by the roaring fire and just be a family.

Well, that and the fact it was actually only about half seven and the sun hadn't risen yet.

"Yes!" Yugi grinned as Yami face palmed, wondering exactly how he'd managed to miss Yugi's surprise attack when it had been blatantly obvious for the three turns before it had struck but then he'd under estimated a level 1 monster and after the amount of times he'd pulled a Kuriboh tactic off, he should have known better.

Kaiba actually couldn't believe how laid back Yami got when he was around those he trusted, he'd always seen Yugi as the chilled out one that didn't get stressed, but then Yami had always been more prone to temper tantrums, while Yugi tended to bottle until he exploded and then woe betide the bad guy.

Yami was never like this outside the Common Room, he was always in 'Pharaoh' mode even around the other students… alright one of those students was a psychotic lunatic bent on killing him, or at least sending his soul to the Shadow Realm, but even around his own house mates, Yami didn't relax.

Joey was getting up, having finally been released from captivity by the girls, and actually gave a smile back towards Kaiba, Harry and Hermione, shocking the CEO since they were technically brothers, or as good as, but still enjoyed shouting at each other, practically rioting over minor details.

He found he'd actually miss it if he didn't have Yami or Joey to row with, Kari was often too tired nowadays to have a decent argument with, though he was certain she vented on him when she was at her lowest because she knew he could give better then she could, causing some stunning rows in the Ravenclaw Common Room and earning himself a few brownie points in this daft dating game of theirs when they made up.

There was a knock on portrait, making Kaiba wonder how that worked for a moment, as Ombre practically sprinted across the Common Room and opened the door to admit her boyfriend, Ryou.

All eyes avoided that section of the room as they wished each other a Merry Christmas… for about a minute and a half, by which point Kaiba calmly cleared his throat and pointed to the now empty sofa by the fire.

Ryou blushed and joined Ombre by the fire, though for a moment the tension in the room was palatable.

Then as Ombre and Ryou started opening presents, there was a relieved sigh and everything went almost back exactly as they had been.

Kaiba thought almost because Yami was on guard again, even though he was almost completely distracted by Yugi and Joey's game. You wouldn't even have noticed that he was on guard if he hadn't seen this so many times before and recognised Yami's body posture as the same that his own bodyguards had during the holidays.

He wondered if Yugi was aware he had two bodyguards as Joey stole a quick glance towards Ryou, who was so engrossed in the back of the 'Monster World' game piece box he was holding, that he missed it.

"OK, we're going out; I'll meet you at breakfast." Ombre said, having felt the tension in the room since she'd opened the door and practically dragging her boyfriend out. Once the portrait closed there was a second sigh of relief and things went back to exactly how they had been before Ryou had entered.

"Guys?" Kari turned from her discussion with Serenity who looked like she was uncertain of something, and asked, as Yugi wiped out two of Joey's Capsule Monsters in one fell swoop, "Who wants to come outside?"

"It's still dark!" Joey protested.

"I know." Kari grinned, "I wanna go skating while it's still dark. Please?"

"You're the only one who has ice skating boots." Yami said, "What would the rest of us do?"

"Firelit snowball fight!" Yugi grinned, looking out the window and spotting the snow that had fallen last night on the frozen ground. Had he ever mentioned that he loved spending Christmas in a hilly region?

"Pwease?"

The gang relented, not that Joey was unhappy to back out of the game considering he was getting crushed by Yugi. Not that that was unusual, but he wanted to practise against the others before he played Yugi again. He'd forgotten it had been the Muto 'twins' who had defeated Duke at his own game, so this new one had been picked up just as quickly.

Everyone grabbed coats and scarves and hats and gloves, though Kaiba was grateful to see Kari reach for the ice skating boots he'd gotten her for Christmas instead of heading upstairs for her old pair that were falling apart.

Most of the castle was still asleep as they headed outside, though that wouldn't last much longer and they wanted to be outside before the rest of it did wake up, as the castle had never been this full during the Christmas holiday before and they wanted some time to themselves, rather then the insanity that would happen once everyone woke up.

The only other place they could gather without anyone disturbing them was the Monster's Wing and they didn't go up there if they could help it, not wanting to disturb the dragons that lived there now.

Down by the lake side, where the Durmstrang ship was frozen into the ice, Kari stopped to change her trainers for the boots. They were gorgeous, white leather with blue and silver detailing, and must have cost a small fortune to buy, with cushioning charms and freshly sharpened blades.

However as she slipped her feet inside she tried not to wince as she felt the hard leather back of the boot. Magically enhanced or not, they were still going to hurt the back of her ankles until she'd broken them in.

The gang were already setting up magical fires as she cast Lumos and tucked her wand into her coat pocket, creating a small pocket of light around herself that would allow her to see the ice well enough to skate on. "Have fun!" She called as Yami threw the first snowball, hitting Seto in the face.

She was on the ice before anyone could hit her and skated out onto the lake and circling the ship before looking to the shore again, where a single snowball had started the single biggest snowball war, not just a fight, but a war, in known Hogwarts history.

She grinned, circling the ship again and wincing as her ankles rubbed, before being startled by a call from someone on the ship and falling down hard.

"Ow." She complained, looking up at where one of the Durmstrang boys was waving down at her. "Merry Christmas!"

The boy called back what she'd assume was Merry Christmas in what she thought was Bulgarian, and vanished.

She got up and skated round so she could see her friends, who were now paired up and fighting each other in teams.

Yugi was paired up with Yami and immensely enjoying not only their tactics, which seemed to be working, but the fact Joey and Kaiba had paired up without complaints when Mokuba and Ginny had double teamed them with Luna and Harry.

He saw Kari skate around the ship, but failed to spot the attack of the crazy people as Seto and Joey attacked without warning from behind the trees and Serenity and Hermione, came at them from the front, supported by Ombre who was levitating snowballs at people and as such had a team all of her own.

Yami yelped, ducking under one snowball but getting hit by three others as they were pelted, losing his partner while he couldn't see and finding himself practically a snowman before too long.

Joey had grabbed Yugi, nodding to his partner in crime, who was more then enjoying pelting Yami until he turned into a pile of snow, as he passed, and pulling his friend to one side of the conflict, letting go and grinning as Yugi finally had a chance to wipe the snow off of his face. "Joey?" Yugi looked confused.

"Just wanted to check you're alright. You've been quiet since the whole becoming a family under magical law thing came up."

"I'm fine, more then fine." Yugi paused and winced, "I just used the word fine didn't I?"

Joey nodded. "So? Or do I have to pelt you with snowballs until you tell me?"

"It's nothing really, I'm being stupid." Yugi shook his head, "Nothing that's overly dangerous or worrying, just me, being me."

"No, you being you is loud and fun, you being quiet is worrying."

Yugi paused and looked over to the firelight, where Yami was trying to dig himself out of the snow, while being pelted by Kaiba and Harry. The sides had changed while they'd been away, since now Luna and Hermione were chasing Mokuba and Ginny around the campfires with snowballs and Ombre proceeded to laugh herself silly at the 'Yami snowman'.

"Yuge?"

"It's…it sounds silly alright." Yugi sighed, "You'll laugh."

"I swear on Deck and Wand, I won't." Joey promised, making Yugi wonder when that had become their binding oath, it seemed to have happened without any of them realising it. "What's wrong?"

"I made a wish…six…no seven years ago, on the Millennium Puzzle." Yugi said, watching his friends play fighting, "Because Grandpa told me that the one who completes it gets one wish and that wish will come true."

"What'd ya wish for? 'Cause if you wasted it…"

"I didn't waste it, that's the problem now." Yugi frowned, "I wished for true friends, and I got them, the next day in fact and now those friends are going to become my family and I still can't help but think that I'm going to wake up one day and find that all of this was a dream and the wish never came true."

"You did waste it then." Joey snorted, causing Yugi to stare at him.

"What?"

"You wasted your wish, Yuge." Joey said, "I'd already decided to make friends with you before you completed it, after you stood up to Ushio for us. Why do you think I got that Puzzle piece back?"

Yugi blinked, uncomprehending.

"After all, any guy willing to stand up to a guy four times his height had to be worth being friends with." Then Joey frowned, "And what was Tea? Chopped liver?"

"Errr… I was young and foolish?"

Joey poked him, "You really thought we were only friends with you because of the Puzzle?"

"No, yes, no…" Yugi struggled to find what he wanted to say. "I…"

"You should give us more credit then that Yuge!" Joey frowned, "Besides, us becoming a family means that it can't have been your wish that made us all friends, because otherwise we'd be staying friends, not researching how to become a family."

When Joey explained it like that, it suddenly made so much sense.

"I…uhhh…"

"And what kind of friends were you expecting to get by magic? Come on! You might have gotten Bonz or something!"

Yugi looked surprisingly like a goldfish, mouth opening and closing, though Joey was glad to get a laugh from him for the Bonz comment.

"No wonder you've been so careful about arguing with us, you've been afraid you'd break the spell." Joey snorted, "Well, now you know it's not a spell, you have to put your own opinions into conversations more often and actually disagree with us sometimes."

"Uhhh."

"Honestly Yuge, I thought you had enough brains in your head to work this out for yourself. Perhaps we used to knock you around too much, knocked some of those brain cells loose." Joey joked, though he still felt horrible about how he had once treated his best friend.

Yugi hadn't been expecting this kind of rant, if anything he'd been expecting Joey to get mad and shout for a whole different reason.

"Besides," Joey continued as Kari passed, wondering what was going on, "Even if it had been a spell that made us friends, I wouldn't change things. I was going nowhere before I made friends with you. Now look at me, I'm actually doing well in school for a change."

"Well?" Yugi squeaked.

"Finally, he speaks!" Joey laughed. "Yes, well, as in not failing."

"Oi, Joey, bring back my hikari!" Yami yelled, laughing as he and Mokuba turned the tables on Kaiba.

"You know… the wish was probably the second test…" Joey said thoughtfully.

"Huh?" Yugi was confused again.

"Think about it, right." Joey continued, "You completed the Puzzle, the first trial, but what if an evil person had completed it, or a person who just wanted it for it's power, the wish could have been a second test to see if the person who completed it was innocent enough to wield it." Joey smirked and got his friend in a headlock, "I mean come on Yuge, that was a pretty naive wish."

Yugi didn't get to comment as Yami tackled Joey from behind, knocking the three of them into the snow. Confusion reigned for a moment, ending when Yugi and Yami managed to end up sat on Joey's back, while he was face first in the snow.

"No fair!" Joey complained, or at least that's what they thought he complained, since they couldn't hear him with a mouth full of snow.

"Get off my brother!" Serenity giggled, levitating the younger of the Muto twins off of her brother.

"Hey!" Yugi squeaked.

"Cheat!" Hermione giggled as Yugi floated in mid air.

"Yami!" Yugi yelped, "Help!"

* * *

 

Robyn leant down to pick up the small, unobtrusive box that was next to her office door.

It was wrapped in blue and bronze paper, with a shiney bronze coloured tag that had just six words on it.

" **To Robyn. Merry Christmas. From Kari."**

Robyn picked it up, examining it. She hadn't expected anything, and if she was honest, she didn't know if Kari could possibly get her anything that she would be interested in, when Robyn herself wasn't really sure and they hadn't spoken in four, going on five years.

Slipping into her office, she shut the door behind her, and moved over to the window, looking out over the lake where a large group of students were having a snowball fight while watched over by a bunch of Duel Monsters.

Sighing, Robyn turned away and looked again at the package.

Merry Christmas…

She hoped Kari liked her fan, Robyn knew it would come in handy if Kari could learn how to use it properly… She'd given all of the Gryffindor seven gifts that would come in useful… in fact, she could bet that Joey's had come in useful already…

If only…

There were so many if onlys that Robyn didn't know where to start.

Well… there was one way…

She opened the present.

* * *

 

Seto Kaiba was waiting at the bottom of the stairs leading to the upper floors of the castle, Ryou Bakura and Ombre Ironhide had just passed and met up with Ginny and Mokuba, Ryou in black dress robes, while Ombre had looked stunning in an Egyptain Style dress. Kaiba had refused to wear dress robes, instead settling for his white suit. His date hadn't told him what she would be wearing but he knew white went with everything as Mokuba was so fond of reminding him.

It was almost time for the ball and the dance would soon begin, something Kaiba was and wasn't looking forward to, it was a long time since he had attended a dance for anything other then Von Stroder's idea of business meetings, stupid man, an occasion such as this made him slightly nervous, not that he'd ever show it.

He heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up, his breath blown away by the three he saw descending, they saw his reaction and blushed instantly. A beautiful young woman descended, wearing a full length silver dress that hung off her left shoulder, her mousey brown hair tumbled down her back in ringlets and a circlet of… those couldn't be real snowflakes… could they? What ever they were they rested on top of her hair, which had blue and silver glitter in, and glittered in the torch light. The only thing about her he recognised to start with was the silver cartouche that hung around her neck and the dagger scar on her right shoulder which she seemed to wear like a badge of pride.

Considering she'd gotten it defending her friends, he wasn't surprised.

She was accompanied by two gorgeous teenage females, one of which was in a periwinkle blue dress, and whose normally bushy hair was sleek and shiny and twisted into an elegant knot at the back of her head, with blue glitter sparkling in it. She was also holding herself differently, something Kaiba attributed to the fact she wasn't carrying any school books.

The other, whose redish brown hair hung loose down her back and sparkled with golden glitter, wore a Japanese kimono, in black, green and silver, her hazel brown eyes dancing with excitement.

Joey, who had been waiting with him, with Cordi and Alecia, looked stunned and Kaiba had to admit that he hadn't expected the rough and tumble girls to look quite as stunning as they did.

"So?" Serenity asked her brother, twirling on the spot. "What do you think?"

"Wow, sis." Joey whistled, suddenly very glad that Duke and Tristan weren't here.

Serenity giggled, following her brother and his dates into the hall, leaving Kari and Hermione on the stairs.

"Seto." Kari grinned, bowing.

"Kari." Seto bowed back, and when he straightened up, he was actually smiling, the same, real smile, he'd been wearing all day. "You look amazing."

"Thank you."

"Her-mio-ninny." Krum bowed and stepped up, taking Hermione's hand, "You are beautiful."

"You look great Vicktor." Hermione blushed.

"Shall we go?" Seto asked, noting that she seemed happier then she had ever seen her, like something had been lifted from her shoulders, and received a bright smile as he offered his hand to Kari.

She nodded, "Lets."

* * *

 

Rebecca looked at the cup in her left hand and the vial in her right.

It would be so easy, just slip the contents of the vial into the pumpkin juice and give it to Yugi and she'd be set. Yugi would fall in love with her and they'd live happily ever after.

Except they wouldn't.

She'd always know that Yugi didn't really love her for her, he loved her because of the potion, and while she hadn't minded while she'd been brewing the potion, now, as she watched him take his turn dancing with Joey's sister, Serenity, the decision didn't seem quite as clear cut.

Well… back to the old fashioned way of doing things. Yugi had asked her after all, not Serenity. Time to dance, she thought, putting the vial down.

The song ended and Yugi bowed with a smile to his best friend's sister, before allowing himself to given the drink Rebecca had brought over and dragged away by his date for the next number.

She loved him, Rebecca was quite certain of that, but Yugi had made it perfectly clear that he didn't love her the same way. As a friend certainly, Yugi loved all of his friends equally, it was why you always felt guilty about even thinking about betraying him or hurting him in anyway. He loved her as a little sister too, which was why, now she had her Grandfather's permission, she was in on the Clan planning sessions, but as a girlfriend… no, he didn't love her like that.

She was aware of the stares too. She'd heard the rumours circulating, every girl in the school wanted to date Harry, Yugi, Yami, Joey or Seto, there were even a few who envied Ginny her place of honour at Mokuba's side, but no one dared ask, there was too much danger surrounding the group that she belonged to for anyone to want to come into it, even with the most wanted boys in it.

She was also painfully aware that if it wasn't for the ball, Yugi wouldn't have asked her out.

And thoughts like that could drive her crazy… crazier at least…

Tonight was for her and Yugi and them alone, she'd share with Serenity for one or two dances, that she didn't mind, but no more then that. Tonight Yugi was hers.

* * *

 

Mokuba swept the vial off of the table, putting it in a pocket, before rejoining his girlfriend on the dance floor.

He'd been aware of Rebecca's pause at the drinks table and had been ready to intercept if she had decided to go ahead, but found himself glad he hadn't had to. How he would have explained that to Yugi was beyond him and he probably would have found himself down one friend.

"Everything alright Mokuba?" Ginny asked once the sound of the music could cover their talk.

"It is now." Mokuba assured her, feeling slightly guilty that Ginny had long since learnt the art of discretion, waiting until they couldn't be overheard to ask, just in case.

"Good." The youngest Weasley leaned into him, relaxing.

He led her to the edge of the dance floor towards the cool night air once the number had ended and smiled at Ryou as he passed. It was thanks to the hikari and his girlfriend that they'd gotten in in the first place.

"We have to come up with a way to thank them." Ginny seemed to read his mind as they stepped out onto the grounds, kissing him on the cheek.

Mokuba nodded, then turned, smiled softly and without thinking about it, kissed her back.

 

* * *

 

Seto Kaiba was watching the gaggle of girls at the table and sighed.

If he wanted to get his dance partner back tonight, he was going to have to interrupt their chatter.

"I'm glad she's mingling." Joey said, startling the CEO as he joined him, "Serenity I mean, I was worried that she wouldn't fit in with everyone, but I guess she's more of a social butterfly then I am."

"You're talking to me about this?" Kaiba gave him an incredulous look.

Joey shrugged, "Yuge and Yami are dancing with their dates, Harry vanished off somewhere with his, Ryou and Ombre are busy and you're just stood here. By the way, can I have a dance with your date? I think it's your turn to take my sister for a spin."

"I think you should ask her, not me." Seto said with the sort of look on his face that would have worried his employees.

Joey just laughed and shrugged, "I figured you'd glare if I didn't ask you too." He paused with a slightly evil grin, "Unless you want to dance with me."

He had to escape from the empty cup that Seto threw at him.

Serenity giggled as her older brother hid behind Kari from the CEO that looked like he wanted to commit homicide, "What's wrong Joey?" She asked, trying to keep a straight face.

Kari paused long enough to hear Seto mumble something under his breath about 'damn mutt' and grinned, moving aside, "I think your bother did something to annoy Seto."

"Don't you mean Brother?" Serenity asked.

"No, I meant what I said."

"Actually, I was wondering if I could ask you to dance." Seto asked, bowing to Serenity, who gave him a startled look and followed him onto the dance floor.

"Kari?" Joey asked.

"If you ask properly."

"Would you care to dance?" Joey's bow was deliberately over exaggerated but Kari laughed and dragged him onto the dance floor.

* * *

 

Harry and Luna had left the crowded dance floor at the end of the sixth or seventh number and hadn't yet rejoined the dancers, though they'd seen their friends enjoying themselves, and Harry had been enjoying the rather random conversation.

The topic itself wasn't all that strange. They were discussing how the other students had paired off. What was rather strange was that Luna was confiding in Harry about the madness that had apparently affected the Ravenclaws. What was a nargle anyway?

Luna seemed to know an awful lot about the other students. Far more then Harry. But then Harry wasn't even sure of all his year mates' names, yet alone their habits.

They talked.

Harry hadn't realised a date could be so relaxing, compared to the frantic state he had been in before.

"Ummm, I just realised, I promised Joey I would dance with his sister, do you mind?"

Luna smiled, "Alright, let's go dance with Joey's sister." She said with a mischievous look in her eye and grabbed Harry's hand before heading back to the dance floor.

Harry caught a glimpse of Yami and his date, who looked like she was enjoying herself, and then found himself face to face with Seto Kaiba.

"Uhhh, could we borrow your dance partner?"

"And who might you be?" Serenity asked, smiling brightly at Luna.

"I'm Luna." Luna replied, brightly smiling and half bowing. Harry replied, remembering that Serenity hadn't been here long before she'd been rushed off with the rest of the girls to get ready.

Serenity glanced at the smiling blonde, "I'm Serenity."

"I know, and Joey asked all his friends to dance with you. So shall we dance?"

Serenity laughed and nodded, and Luna pulled both Harry and her deeper into the crowd of dancers, leaving Seto standing on his own, feeling slightly confused.

Did this mean Kari would be asking to dance with Serenity next?

* * *

 

Hermione and Krum were dancing quite happily. To her surprise, considering that only Kari, Ombre and Seto had been aware of who her date was, no one in her group of friends had said anything about her dance partner, and in fact had come over for a quick chat and then had vanished with their own dates again.

"I think your friend needs a dance partner." Krum said to Hermione, indicating Kaiba, who looked like he wasn't quite sure what had just happened.

"I thought he was here with Kari." Hermione frowned, then saw the woman dancing with Joey, "Unless it was Seto's turn to dance with Serenity."

"Serenity?" Krum looked confused.

"Joey's sister." She indicated the tall golden blonde male, "He managed to get them to let him invite her but she didn't have a date so all of Joey's male friends are dancing with her." She paused spotting Luna dancing with both Harry and Serenity. "And apparently some of his female ones too." She glanced at Seto. "Do you mind?"

"I will go and get drinks, yes?"

"Thank you Vicktor." Hermione grinned and wandered over to Seto. "Hi Seto, having fun?"

"Luna just asked Serenity to dance." He uttered in a rather stunned voice.

"Seto, this is Luna, I wouldn't be surprised if she asks Professor McGonagall to dance by the end of the night." Hermione giggled, "Besides, you know what Harry's like, I swear if he was any shyer we wouldn't see him dawn to dusk."

Seto's gaze left Luna for a moment to turn to Hermione. "Please say something to distract me from thinking about Luna and Harry dancing with McGonagall."

"I like your suit, where did you get it?"

Seto frowned, "Hermione, I never thought you of all people would be reduced to talking about clothing."

"Would you prefer to discuss the theories on magical music?"

"I think, considering our location, I would prefer to dance."

Hermione smiled, "I thought you would never ask."

* * *

 

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

Harry turned away from the drinks bar, holding two cups of pumpkin juice, attempting to at least be civil tonight of all nights.

"Enjoying your mudbloods, Potter?"

Harry froze, turned around, and gave Draco a glare that would have even impressed Yami. "Luna's a Pure Blood and don't call Serenity a Mudblood."

Draco snorted "Lovegood's no better then a Mudblood, the entire family are lunatics."

"Well you'd know all about insane families." Harry retorted, "Look at yours!"

" _Harry?"_ Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw Yugi was looking over, having sensed Harry's anger. _"You ok?"_

_`Malfoy.`_

' _Need a hand?'_ Yami asked, startling Astraea when he stopped mid dance and turned towards them.

_`No, I'm…`_

"Harry!"

Harry jumped as someone called his name and before he knew what was going on there was a spell bouncing off a shield and Luna had run over, wand in hand. "Leave him alone, Malfoy." She scowled.

"Stay out of this Loony Lovegood!"

"Watch it Malfoy!" Harry snapped, drawing his wand and aware Yugi and Yami were making their way over.

"Densaugeo!"

"Furnunculus!"

The two spells passed each other in mid air, causing Draco to gain boils, while Draco's spell hit Luna in the face.

A moment later, Yami and Yugi had Draco at wand point.

"Luna, you ok?" Rebecca asked, rushing over.

Luna just stared at her, her front teeth huge, enlarged by the spell.

"Malfoy." Yami growled. "Leave."

Draco would have said something else, but Bakura grabbed the back of his robes and dragged his brother out of the hall.

"I'll take her to see Madam Pomfrey." Rebecca said, pulling her friend towards the door.

"I'm coming too!" Harry followed them out of the Great Hall.

"What was that about?" Serenity asked Yugi.

"Draco Malfoy's been a pain since the first day we got here." Yugi advised, "Luna will be fine, Madam Pomfrey will be able to sort her teeth out."

"Okay…"

"Come on, let me show you the grounds." Yugi grinned reassuringly, taking her hand and leading her out of the hall, where the ball was returning to normal.

Leading Serenity around the icicle and fairy festooned garden, they exchanged funny stories about their friends and were just heading back to the hall when Yugi yelped and pulled Serenity into a bush.

"Yugi?"

"It's Hagrid and Madam Maxine." Yugi hissed.

"Who?"

"Our Care of Magical Creatures professor and the Head of Beauxbatons." Yugi hissed, holding up a hand as the two passed.

"Who do you get it from?" Hagrid was asking.

"Get what?" Madam Maxine feigned ignorance.

"It's on my mother's side," Hagrid continued, "But she left when I was little, wasn't really the nurturing type."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I never found another like me before." Hagrid continued, "Half giant I mean…"

"How dare you?" Madam Maxine practically screeched, "I… I am just big boned!"

" _If she's just big boned, I'm a Tomb Robber."_

' _Yugi?'_

" _I'll explain later."_ Yugi said as Madam Maxine stormed off.

Before Yugi could explain to Serenity, Snape blasted the bush they were hiding in and they had to run for it.

"Yugi? Did you know?"

Yugi shook his head, "I kind of suspected, but it's not really fair to ask, considering we never told Hagrid everything about Yami and Ombre."

Serenity frowned in confusion, "Your brother?"

Yugi cringed, "Okay, I think I'd better explain properly."

* * *

 

Ronald Weasley had been faking sleep for hours by the time the first of his former friends returned to the dorm, excited, happy and tired, and it didn't improve his mood at all to find that a couple of them didn't return at all. Harry and Joey hadn't returned to the dorm, when Neville finally got back at around three am.

He hadn't had a date to the ball, he hadn't managed to get one in time, and there had been no way he was sticking around long when Hermione had gone with Vicktor Krum of all people and none of the gang seemed too worried about it, even though Krum could be spying on Kari and Harry, having headed outside and spent the greater majority of the night roaming around the gardens feeling like an idiot, even having fallen in the fountain in the courtyard and ending up picking a beetle out of his hair…

And he didn't care.

He had to remember that.

He had been angry and upset, thinking the gang had betrayed him, but that had worn off when he'd seen Kari and Harry injured by the dragons they had fought. Now he wanted to apologise, but he couldn't, didn't want to, while the others were ignoring him.

Alright, so he'd made a mistake, but he couldn't believe how the others were freezing him out. They were even inviting his little sister and his twin brothers to their family and they hadn't even talked to him since he'd had that… conversation… with Yugi.

They made him so mad when they just walked on by without saying a word, or he got woken up in the middle of the night by the gang moving around after one of Yugi's nightmares and he couldn't ask them what was wrong…

Ok, he wanted to make up for his mistake, but he also wanted them to see that they had been in the wrong too.

They were wrong it ignore him, they were wrong to treat Harry better then they did Ron, they were wrong to discard Ron's ideas and they should have listened to him about Malfoy instead of ignoring him.

Joey snuck up the stairs around fiveish, waking Ron up from a light sleep and Ron when got up, giving up on getting any real sleep at around sixish, and heading downstairs, only to find Harry and Luna on the sofa, having fallen asleep cuddled up together.

Ron gave up.

He wanted to be friends with them again, but it was hard when they didn't seem to miss him in the slightest. Hermione was with the world famous Vicktor Krum, Harry had found someone he really liked, and he'd even seen Yugi with Joey's sister, happier then Ron had seen him in a while.

They didn't miss him in the slightest, they didn't need him…

Ron stalked out of the Common Room.

He didn't need them, or their stupid Clan…

He didn't…

 

 


	14. And a Happy New Year

It was New Years Eve and Harry had come here, to the Monster's Wing, to get a few hours of sleep before they were up all night celebrating.

It wasn't that he minded, after all, it was only once a year and New Years was much more important for his friends from Japan then Christmas was, not that you could tell from the way Yugi acted, that he was quite happy to stay up all night. It was just that he hadn't slept very well last night and when Harry had run into Shadowfae earlier, Mahado had passed on the message that the Red Eyes Darkness Dragon had offered her bed, since she was on duty, so Harry had retreated here and attempted to go to sleep.

Of course he hadn't figured on Nakia's crying, Mana's cooing, and some of the Purple Eyes Silver Dragons flying in and settling in the common room and making this much noise.

Rolling over and pulling the pillow over his head, he couldn't believe that even with all this noise, it was still quieter here then it was in the Gryffindor Tower.

They'd been up early, as all ways, and he knew he wasn't the only one to be getting some shut eye this afternoon, or attempting to, since Kari had been up late finishing off a project and Hermione had been finishing up the paperwork on the citizenship forms ready for the Clan spell at the end of the Second Task.

It had been agreed last night, that they would ask Solomon Muto, Yugi's grandfather, if he would join them in the Clan signing, making Muto Grandfather the oldest member of the Clan, and one of the Founders of the Potter Clan.

They'd finally decided on that, naming the Clan for Harry's family, since it was easy to remember, because they didn't want the name of Harry's family to die out and because James and Lily Potter had given their lives to save their son.

With a swooping of wings, the Monster's Wing finally fell silent and Harry finally relaxed.

It wasn't often now, that everything was silent, both outside and in his head, when it wasn't Yugi or Yami, it was Boh passing on something that he thought was interesting or Mahado passing on messages. He had to say that when he'd found he'd become linked to Yami and Yugi, he hadn't realised that he'd become linked to Boh and Mahado too. What had amused him even further was that Boh had mentioned Wolf, who was interested in finding a way through, but hadn't completely bonded to his Duellist yet, and had described a Gold Winged Wolf.

Did this mean that Harry would have his own partner monster soon?

Mana's voice carried through the wall, singing a song in a language that Harry kind of recognised, though it was more from Yami and Yugi's memories that he recognised it then his own. It had to be Ancient Egyptian and whatever she was singing, it was soothing, a lullaby, perhaps?

Harry caught the tune easily enough and hummed along quietly, finally drifting off mid way through the third repetition.

* * *

"Well done." Mahado said, leaning against the wall, and enjoying his partner's singing, "He's finally gone to sleep."

"You like him really." Mana giggled quietly as she put the sleeping baby into her cradle, "You've been stand offish since you came back and found Harry was bound to the Yugi and Yami."

"I don't think they realise quite how dangerous this is." Mahado replied, "I don't know how Harry was linked to the past, but he's now bound to the Puzzle as much as Draco is bound to the Ring."

"You felt that?" Mana frowned, "I thought there was something wrong there."

"The Millennium Ring seems to have latched onto Draco as it's third owner, and because of what happened to Harry, Pharaoh gave Harry part of the Puzzle's power, linking Harry's magical core to the Puzzle and giving Harry a little control over it's power. I don't think it'll be long before the Puzzle responds to Harry like it does to Lord Yugi or Pharaoh Yami."

Mana paused to consider the consequences, "I don't think that's going to be a completely bad thing, not if his enemies are getting Millennium Magic. He would at least have some form of protection, though I would not wish the damn things on anyone anymore…"

"Mana…"

"I know that it's only through the mixture of wand and shadow magic that we're here, but…" Mana shuddered, "You feel it. Don't you? The increasing power of the Shadows?"

"Yes." Mahado nodded, "Something or someone is feeding them. I don't doubt that there is a battle coming and that it will decide everything. The Pharaoh may need his new half-hikari."

"They'll win, Mahado."

"They'll have to be stronger then ever before, I don't know if…"

"They'll be ok, they always are." Mana was filled with confidence. Mahado just wished he could be too.

* * *

"You only have 700 life points left, Muto, and I'm going to wipe you out, Blue Flame Swordsman, attack Yugi directly!"

"No you don't, I activate Pick Me!" Kari bellowed, "Meaning that your direct assault will be aimed at me instead!"

The Blue Flame Swordsman wheeled around and Kari braced herself, raising her Duel Disk to shield herself from the coming attack.

The sword hit, the blue flames dancing around them, sparks coming from the contact point of metal on metal. Kari was pushed back into the wall as the Duel Monster attempted to get his attack in, and her bracing arm slipped, taking the Duel Disk with it.

Blue Flame Swordsman's sword went into her right shoulder, causing an agonising scream as it pierced right through to her shoulder bone, cauterising as it went.

"Kari, no!" Joey shouted, afraid for his friend as the Blue Flame Swordsman returned to his Master's side of the field, Kari slipping down the wall she'd been pinned against. He went to go to her.

"Don't move." Blake snarled, highly amused, "You move out of place and you'll all forfeit!"

"Kari!" Yugi bit his bottom lip as she shuddered, left hand clenching right shoulder tightly.

She opened her eyes, pain filled hazel trying to focus. "I'm fine, I have…" She whimpered, "Fifty points left, and…" A gasp and a whimper, "You can do it this turn!"

Yugi nodded, wishing Yami hadn't been outside the gates when the Shadow Game had started, leaving Joey, Kari and Yugi to face Blake and his two goons in the final battle of this screwed up Shadow World Game.

"Well, since your friend screwed up my victory, I'll think I'll end my turn." Blake looked smug and Joey just wanted to punch his face in.

"I've got this Joey, if I may borrow a few things from you and Kari." Yugi growled, at his most Pharaoh like.

"Go for it, Yuge."

"Do it."

"I sacrifice Joey's Flame Swordsman and Alligator Sword, along with Kari's Skilled Dark Magician, in order to summon one of my most powerful beasts. SLIPHER, THE SKY DRAGON!" Yugi had to bellow above the sound of the lightening storm that arrived with the great God.

The huge red dragon god wrapped around Yugi and Joey and hid Kari from the view of Blake.

Arriving with 5000 attack points, Slipher looked pretty pissed.

"Slipher, finish him! Thunder Force Attack!" Yugi called, aiming the attack at Blake's Blue Flame Swordsman, who died in the blast.

"Yes!" Joey cheered.

The smoke cleared.

Blake was still standing.

"Oh come off it!" Joey complained, "You only had five hundred points left, Slipher dealt you 3200!"

"I activated a quick play spell." Blake was laughing at them, "Emergency Provisions."

Yugi's growl told Joey all he needed to know.

"You know it, don't you Muto?" Blake laughed, "I sent three spell cards to the Graveyard, upping my life points by three thousand, so I only took two hundred points of damage." Blake smirked, "You failed, Muto and I have another surprise for you. I activate Reverse-Time, removing your God Card from play, and all of our monsters that were destroyed or sacrificed this turn return to the field." Blake's Blue Flame Swordsman returned to the field, along with Skilled Dark Magician, Flame Swordsman and Alligator Sword, however…

"Slipher stays!" Joey crowed, as Slipher shook off the pull of the other dimension, "Trap cards don't work on Gods, he's stronger then your demon and since we've already taken out your two goons, it's my turn." Joey snarled as Kari, still protected by Slipher, returned to her place on the field.

"Ah, but here comes my last surprise, I sent three continuous spell cards to the Graveyard to activate Emergency Provisions." Blake laughed, "So before you get your turn, I get to summon one of the most terrifying cards in my deck."

"What? It can't work like that!" Kari protested.

"I'm sure you've heard of a special summon, Ironhide and you'll be shocked by this one, come to me, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!"

Another thunder storm, this time on Blake's side of the field, and from the smoke rose a terrifying sight, a demonic version of the Winged Dragon of Ra, with sharp talons, grey dragonic wings and skeletal form, with four thousand attack and defence points.

"What in the name of the Gods?" Yugi demanded.

"Meet the first of my Legendary Demons, stolen from Pegasus's Island, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!" The demon roared, "And when he destroys a monster, the owner of the monster he destroys loses one thousand life points."

"No…"

"You will all lose in three turns, and I think I'll start with you." Blake pointed at Kari, who was having trouble staying on her feet.

"You won't win through cheating." Kari promised. "Both me and Joey have to have a turn before your demon gets to attack."

"True, but you're hurting so bad you can barely stay conscious, I'm not worried about you and Wheeler's got nothing in his deck that can take my demon down."

"Joey, I have a plan." Kari said, "We have enough monsters."

Joey frowned, he could only think of one thing that she meant… He drew.

"I play Summon Capture." Joey called, activating his face down spell card. "It allows me to look at your hand and choose a monster to summon from it and it can be any monster." Joey went over, looked, hissed and then made up mind, flipping Blake off as he took the card from the villain's hand, "And I choose this one," Joey said, returning to his part of the field, "Raviel, Lord of Phantasms!" Joey paused when it didn't work. "Uhhh."

"You can't summon that card without sacrificing three fiends." Blake sniggered, "And you don't have any."

"Damn."

"Nice try Joey." Yugi grinned, "You can't summon it, but neither can he."

"I don't need to, my Hamon will destroy your God Card and your life points next turn."

"I switch my monsters into defence mode and end my turn." Joey growled.

Kari drew, "I equip my Skilled Dark Magician with Black Pendant!" The Magician gained an odd necklace with an amethyst in a gold setting, raising the Magician by 500.

"That's still not enough." Blake laughed, "He's only a measly 2400."

"And I play the Amulet of Ambition!" Her Skilled Dark Magician rose by another 3000, "Now he's 5400, which is more then high enough to defeat your demon. Skilled Dark Magician attack!"

The Magician attempted to blast the demon, but his attack bounced off of a shield of some kind and back at the magician and it's Duellist.

"Kari!" Joey bellowed as the attack exploded on contact with the magician.

Kari screamed.

"Kari!"

* * *

Kari sat bolt upright, her hand going to her shoulder in echoed pain for a moment, before she realised where she was.

_You ok, Kari?_

Oh how she'd missed that voice.

" _Just a bad dream, Mana."_ Well, more like a memory coming to haunt her. If anything she was glad she wasn't Yugi, who sometimes had advance warnings from his dreams, she at least only was haunted by dreams of the past, and her least favourite ghost wasn't haunting her at the moment… _"Nothing to worry about."_

_Okay. If you're sure?_

" _I'm sure, did Harry get to sleep?"_

_Mahado says so._

" _Cool, see you later."_ Kari replied, lying back. Life had been so crazy for so long, she'd forgotten the last time life had been completely sane. No magic, no monsters, no wands, or card wielding maniacs, just life as she'd once known it…

She snorted, life had never been normal, and with the Triwizard tournament and the impending fun of the Summer, she was under no illusion that next year would be any better.

Well, at least with just six hours to go, there wasn't much else that could go wrong.

* * *

It was half eight and Yugi was on his way to the Monster's Wing when someone grabbed his arm.

Pulled into a classroom, Yugi had his wand out before the person had shut the door.

"Wait!" The teen yelped, holding up his hands.

Yugi paused, "What do you want Ron?"

Yugi was surprised as sat on his knees and bowed until his head was touching the floor, "I am sorry."

"Ron?"

"I was stupid and should have listened and I should have been more sensitive, I have been an idiot. I'm sorry."

It was very hard to talk to the back of a head and Yugi told Ron so, causing the teen to stand bolt upright, at attention. "What made you change your mind?"

"Christmas." Ron admitted. "Christmas is really lonely when your family are hanging around with your old friends and your old friends aren't talking to you because you've been an idiot and are too stupid to see it."

Ron had known that apologising wouldn't be easy, even apologising to Yugi was going to be hard, but he had to do it. He'd had enough of sitting on the outside, and Ginny had shouted at him for almost the whole day on Boxing Day, when he'd made the mistake of complaining that Ginny had spent the whole of Christmas Day with Mokuba.

"We weren't wrong, to rally around Harry when he needed us." Yugi warned. "We won't apologise."

"I know." Ron nodded, "I was in the wrong."

"You're going to have to be the one to apologise to everyone." Yugi sighed, leaning back onto a table.

_`Yugi?`_

" _Give me a sec."_

_`Ok.`_

"Who were you talking to?" Ron asked, having noted the look Yugi had gotten, the one that looked as if he was listening to something only he could hear.

"Harry wants something." Yugi sighed. "So, are you ready to apologise to the others?"

"I suppose."

"You have to want to, Ron, or it won't be sincere and will just irritate them even further."

"I do."

"Then why doesn't it sound like it."

"Yami's going to eat me."

"Yami doesn't eat people, they don't taste very nice." Yugi pointed out, wondered who had once told him that humans don't taste very nice and shook his head, "Besides, you picked a good night for an apology, New Years and all."

"Uh huh."

"Come on, we're gathering in the Monster's Wing, Kari should have put a silencing spell on Mana's room by now."

"Why?"

"Well you've seen the monsters are back, right?"

Ron nodded.

"Mana's had a child."

"Really?" Ron looked amused.

"Uh huh. Nakia. A little girl."

"I bet she's Mahado's too."

Yugi just grinned, "Come on, lets get this over with." Yugi opened the door and pulled Ron out.

* * *

Midnight was anticipated all over the castle, and in the Monster's Wing, a group of thirteen, if you didn't include the Duel Monsters, was counting down eagerly.

Especially a certain red head, who had made his apologies, and other then a warning that Joey would be catching him up on his training, he'd gotten off pretty lightly. A ot could be said in the heat of the moment, and too much had happened for the anger they'd had to still be burning hot, alright everything wasn't really settled yet, but with Ron's apology, they were willing to start rebuilding bridges.

They were going to need all of the friends they could find in the coming months and just because one of them had been an idiot, didn't mean they should turn him away.

"Ten!" Rebecca timed, giggling.

"Nine!" Ron was just happy to have them talking to him again.

"Eight!" Kaiba had finally put his laptop away an hour ago and was now playing chess with Mokuba.

"Seven!" Joey reminded himself to have a word with Yugi in the morning about the newspaper headlines.

"Six!" Yugi grinned, having planned a surprise along with Kari that he just knew was going to drive Yami up the wall after last year.

"Five!" Kari had put her book down and was looking out the window, wondering about getting fireworks for next year.

"Four!" Luna and Harry cuddled up next to each other on the sofa and counted down together.

"Three!" Yugi put his pen down, having been seven eighths of the way through a letter to Tea.

"Two!" Yami still wasn't sure why they did this every year, but wasn't about to pass up a party.

"One…" Everyone, in unison counted the last second…

"Happy New Year!"


	15. Water, Water Everywhere

"Yuge?"

Yugi paused at the top of the fourth floor stairs, looking back over his shoulder at Joey who was just behind him, the two running late, having been the last to finish showering after training this morning, "What's up?" Joey nodded towards the corridor and Yugi shot back up the steps and into the corridor. "Joey?"

Before Yugi was sure what was going on, Joey had grabbed the collar of his robes and lifted him off the ground. Fear and confusion swamped him, "Joey?!"

"I don't know how much of it is true, and I trust you, but I'll give you the same warning I gave the other guys. Hurt my sister and you'll be sorry."

"Joey, I don't know what you're talking about!" Yugi yelped.

' _Yugi, what's wrong?'_ Yami sounded worried, having sensed Yugi's sudden fear.

Joey let go, letting Yugi drop to the floor, "I'm just warning you." He said with a growl and a pat on the head, before stalking downstairs.

 _`Yugi!?`_ Now Harry was worried, since Yami had gotten no answer from the hikari.

Yugi didn't respond, still stunned, the fear gone but the confusion increasing by the minute

' _Yugi?'_

Yugi got to his feet slowly, shaking his head to clear it.

' _Damn it Yugi, answer me!'_ Yami was afraid and frustrated… Yugi could sense he was heading this way, along with Harry.

" _I…I'm fine."_ Yugi finally got himself going again. _"Have you seen Joey?"_

' _No… why?'_

" _Nothing."_

_`Yugi, what happened?`_

" _Nothing."_ Yugi headed down the stairs.

' _Yugi…'_ Oh Yugi knew that tone, it was a 'tell-me-what-happened-or-else' tone and Yugi just knew that Yami wouldn't follow through on it so he didn't say anything. Instead he leant over the railings and waved down to Yami and Harry who looked back up at him.

" _I'm ok, honest."_ Yugi sent, heading down to meet them. Joey had passed the two before Yugi reached them, since the staircases had changed at least twice since Joey had left. They headed down to breakfast, where Kari was giggling about something.

"You might want to read this." She said, handing Yugi a copy of yesterday's daily Prophet. It had been left in the Common Room overnight and Yugi had seen it in passing, but hadn't paid much attention to it. However it appeared Kari had grabbed it on her way down.

Yugi looked at the headline. Well, this explained Joey's mood, he just wondered how long it had taken Skeeter to get all this information.

Reading the article, it looked like she'd gone out to Japan to talk to Serenity's friends, interviewed people at Hogwarts and spoken to some people in the Duelling Circuit before giving the article to the editor of the paper…

Annoying and completely untrue, but she didn't half go out of her way to get a story.

So he had a new question, how had she been on school grounds for the Yule Ball?

Professor Dumbledore had banned her after her piece on the 'love triangle' between Kari, Harry and Hermione.

"Joey." Yugi looked at his best friend who look partially ashamed of himself, "You do realise everything Skeeter writes is junk right?"

Joey didn't look up causing Yami to snatch the paper away, read the article, put two and two together, roll his eyes and whack Joey round the head with it.

"Besides, I'd tell you if I was going to date your sister." Yugi continued, "Not let you find out in a newspaper."

"Big brother mode." Joey said, shrugging, "I did the same to Duke and Tristan."

"Just make sure you have the facts next time please." Yugi said, easily forgiving Joey.

"Sure."

"Come on, we'll be late." Ombre poked the two boys, to make them hurry up with their breakfast.

"We're coming!" Joey waved her off, shoving hot porridge into his gob.

Ombre rolled her eyes and looked over to the Ravenclaw table, where Kari and Seto were talking quietly… Ombre wondered what they were on about.

Kari wandered back over to the Gryffindor table, looking at her notes, lost in thought.

"Hikari?"

"Tell you later." Kari promised, "We've got a surprise planned."

"Surprise?" Yami asked warily.

"Don't worry, you'll like it." Kari promised.

* * *

"Miss Ironhide?"

Kari paused at the voice. She, Ombre and Hermione were on their way to the library. The Gillyweed for Harry had come in this morning, just in time for the Second Task which was being held tomorrow and she had the spell she was going to use down perfect, all the Clan paperwork had arrived, the potion would be ready tomorrow, so they'd sign that after the task and the only reason she was going to the library was because she wanted to look something up about merpeople.

"Miss Golden?" She asked, waving Ombre and Hermione on.

"You wanted to talk?" Robyn asked, as Ombre and Hermione shot up the stairs and out of sight.

Kari nodded.

Robyn directed the young woman to her office, and sat down, waiting for Kari to take a seat before asking, "Well?"

"I…" Kari took a deep breath, "Robyn, I don't hate you." She burst out, "I could never hate you! I'm sorry for whatever I've done to make you think that I hate you!"

"No contact. Something happened after... after you left. My visions have gotten worse." Robyn sighed, and draped herself messily over a chair. "I thought things were bad before..."

"I tried to reach you, used my wages on credit, flooded your inbox, but you never replied…" Kari said truthfully, "What happened? Why are your visions worse?"

Robyn nodded, "Do you know what effects memory charms have on Seers?"

Kari shook her head, "I know that repeated use can cause problems with how someone's memories work…" Kari trailed off, getting angry for her friend, working out where this was going, "Who do I have to kill?"

"No killing. I'm pressing charges. It was my father. He was... displeased at some of my actions."

"Git." Kari growled, trying to calm down, hands clenched into fists, "What could you have done that was so bad that he messed around with your memories?"

"I don't know." She shrugged with a half smile, "The memory is gone."

Kari growled, "I lost contact with you around the time you sent me the Orb, but I wasn't there… I couldn't help… I'm sorry." Guilt flooded her, "If I'd been there, I might have noticed something, I'm sorry."

"I sent you the Orb? What orb? Can I see?"

Kari took off her Millennium Orb, which had been hidden (badly) by her robes, "It's the Millennium Orb… we think. It's the item Ombre's linked to… oh… you wouldn't know…" Kari handed over the Orb.

Robyn grinned. "The Orb of light, of dawning days, said to hold the wisdom of those who have gone before, but only unlockable by half a twin made whole. It's been in my family for..." The grin faded, and Robyn shivered. "Oh."

"The Orb's the reason… you sent it to me to protect me from the Shadows…" Kari bit her lower lip, "I freed Ombre when I touched it, that was what it meant, right, half a twin? Her mind's linked to mine… making me whole…" Kari shook her head, "I didn't know it had been in your family for years, I didn't even think about it. Robyn, do you think that's why your dad was so mad?"

"Not years, centuries. Magical families go back a long way." She handed back the orb. "It's a powerful magical artefact, and I gave it to a Muggle... he must have been so mad."

"But if it was a Millennium Item, shouldn't it have gone over to Japan anyway? I mean, won't Yugi need it?"

"There are only seven Millennium Items. The Orb is something else altogether."

Kari looked at the Orb in Robyn's hand, she'd only ever known it as the Millennium Orb, but if it wasn't from around there, where had it come from… "Robyn, you remember Ombre, right? You met her at the Quidditch World Cup."

"The young woman living off your magic?"

"Ombre's not… she has her own magic. She's my dark, like Yami is to Yugi." Kari was confused, "As long as she keeps her energy up and eats well, she doesn't have to live off of magic."

"There are many types of magic Kari, and I'm not talking wand magic."

"Do Ombre and the Orb have the same type of magic?" Kari asked, "Because I already know it's not Shadow Magic, though we can draw off of them when we have none of our own left. Is Ombre something else, like the Orb is? Or is she a yami, truly? The dark to my light?"

"Ombre is... complicated. She's a construct of lots of different magics. My best bet would be primary shadow, dawn, blood and twin magics. She's not dark, I have no idea what put that into your head. I don't know what a yami is, and I really don't think I should tell you what Ombre is."

"A yami is a dark…" Kari paused, "This is complicated, we haven't had to explain it to anyone in years, they're spirits who were trapped within a Millennium Item and were freed by their hikaris or their lights, also known as their reincarnations. A yami is the dark half of the soul of the person that was sealed and a hikari is the light half that was allowed to move through the reincarnation cycle." Kari explained, "Each yami can only be supported by their hikari and each hikari needs their yami, it's a partnership that once entered, we cannot break, nor would we want to. Yami is Yugi's yami, Bakura is Ryou's and Ombre is mine, but…" She frowned, "If Ombre isn't dark, then she can't be a yami…" _So what does that make me?_ Kari wondered, _If Ombre isn't my dark half, I'm not a hikari, so what am I?_

"Ombre can not be dark. She is not the other half of your soul. Your soul has been whole since your brother died. You could not have activated the Orb unless your soul was whole. I will not tell you what Ombre is, it is not for me to say."

 _Rai…_ The pain was deep, though it was seven years this March that he had been killed and Kari had to force her mind back on track, "The Japanese have a saying. A pair of twins is the soul of one incredible person, split into two, and they can only ever reach their full potential if one of the twins dies…" Kari said, thinking, "So maybe I've been whole all this time, and that's what gave me my magic… and I never realised it..." Kari nodded, not wanting to force the issue when she was having a civil and sane conversation with her friend, "Besides We'll just have to work what the Orb and Ombre are, we can do it, we normally do." She sighed, "I'm sorry, for running away from my problems, and causing you more."

"Ombre knows already, and I think you should go now, I have work to do."

"Ombre doesn't have any…" Kari shook her head, "Alright, I have to find that thing on merpeople for tomorrow's task anyway." She stood up, "See ya later." She said, giving her friend a grin and picking up her bag.

* * *

When the group gathered for dinner that evening, even with the second task tomorrow, it had to be said that Kari and Harry were quite considerably calmer then they had been for the first task, through the nerves were there is you looked hard enough.

"Come seek us where our voices sound," Kari sang under her breath as she leant back, having eaten as much as she was going to considering she had to be underwater for an hour at the most tomorrow. "We cannot sing above the ground."

"An hour long you'll have to look," Harry continued startling everyone, "And to recover what we took."

Kari smiled at him, having already heard about Harry's plan to take some gillyweed down with him, just in case. In theory it should last an hour, but they knew better then to take that risk.

"I wonder what the merpeople will take." Yugi said, sipping his hot chocolate and looking up from his plate, which was still half full from his second lot.

"I have no idea." Kari said, "It could be anything, it wasn't really specific about it."

"Helpful." Ron said with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

"Very." Harry agreed.

"Early night?" Ombre asked.

"I need to talk with you." Kari said, "But it can wait till we're up in the dorm. Other then that I think I'll turn in early."

"I doubt I'll get much sleep." Harry nodded, "But I'm not staying up too late, there's not much point and it'll only effect my performance tomorrow."

"Well…" Hermione looked around, "I did brew these." She held up two vials, "Eight hours of dreamless sleep."

"I'll take it." Harry nodded, accepting a vial, "As long as no one allows me to sleep through the task."

"Harry, we don't' let you sleep through training, what makes you think we'd let you sleep through the task?"

"I am not training tomorrow morning." Kari told them. "The task's at ten."

"We were going to let you two sleep in tomorrow, wake you up when we got back."

"Yeah, an hour's swimming is more then enough exercise."

"In that case, I'll take one." Kari said, "I just can't believe that they've got the nerve to go through our stuff to put down in the lake. I swear if they take my Deck or Duel Disk, I'm going to hurt someone." Kari took the vial from Hermione, with a small smile. "Thanks sis."

"Its official tomorrow, isn't it?" Harry asked.

"Uh huh." Joey nodded.

"Can't wait." Harry grinned.

"We just need to ask Grandpa and Sirius, when they get here."

"I think Gramps'll accept."

"What about Sirius?" Harry asked, worried.

"We can add him at a later date if he says no and changes his mind later." Kari advised.

There was silence for a moment, remembering how easy it had been to get Sirius to agree to letting Harry become a member of the Clan… not… and then they all stood up, headed up to the Gryffindor Tower, sent their good nights to their Duel Monster partners and then Harry downed his potion, and was out like a light a minute later.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Ombre asked as Kari started changing into her pjs.

"I spoke to Robyn today." Kari small smile advised the dark that it had gone well, then she frowned, "She said something you might be interested in."

"What is it?"

"The Orb isn't a hidden Millennium Item." Kari answered, "It's apparently the Orb of Light, and it supposedly holds the memories of those who have gone before us." She said, hand on the Orb, eyes closed, then they opened and brown met magenta, "It was in Robyn's family for centuries."

"And she sent it to you?" Hermione asked.

Kari nodded, "It was to protect me from the Shadows, but I was a half made whole, so I activated it."

"Huh?"

"A pair of twins is one incredibly powerful soul split into two, so when…" Kari's throat constricted and she looked down.

"When Rai died," Ombre continued for her hikari, "Kari's soul would have become… oh." Ombre wheeled around to look at her hikari, eyes wide. They'd never considered it before…

"I wasn't a half when I met you."

Hermione frowned, "But doesn't that mean that Ombre isn't a yami, if she's not the other half of your soul?"

"Exactly."

"Then… if I'm not a yami… what am I?"

"Robyn said you already knew."

"Hmm. Seers, strange creatures."

Kari frowned, "If the Orb holds memories, like Robyn said, then you have to have some access to them and so do I."

"Not tonight." Hermione said firmly.

"Not unless you want to try Ombre." Kari said, "If not it can't be tomorrow night either." Kari said, "We've got the Clan to worry about."

"I… will try." Ombre said, "Did she say where to look?"

"No." Kari shook her head, "She said you knew."

"I will think about it." Ombre nodded, "In the meantime, you must sleep."

"Alright." Kari nodded, handing over the Orb of Light, "Night girls." She downed the potion and was asleep in moments.

Ombre nodded towards the stairs and they were joined by the guys, so deep in thought that she missed the whole conversation going on.

"I'm going to go see Boh." Yugi said, "We had a run in Slytherins earlier and I just want to check he was alright for the rest of the day."

"I'll come." Yami said, "I'm not going to sleep for a while."

"I don't think you should, Yami." Hermione said, shaking her head, "It's easier to get around unnoticed when there's only one of you, and Filch'll be out and about soon."

"Filch can…"

"Do you want another detention with Robyn?"

"No."

"Then stay here."

"Fine." Yami growled.

"I'll be fine." Yugi grinned, "I'm just going to talk to Boh, it's not like the Duel Monsters aren't on Guard Duty."

"Alright, just be careful."

"I will." Yugi promised, and headed out of the Common Room.

"You alright Ombre?" Joey poked her.

"I'm not a yami."

Everyone froze at that statement. "Ombre?"

"I… don't want to talk about it." Ombre shook her head, "I have to find out what I am first."

"What do you mean?"

"Just leave me alone." Ombre stormed out of the Common Room.

"I'm going after her." Yami told them, leaving quickly.

"What was that about?"

"Kari spoke to Robyn today…"

* * *

"Ombre?"

"Leave me alone Pharaoh, how would you feel if you'd been told your entire existence is a lie? That you weren't who or what you thought you were?"

"What happened?"

"Kari was whole before she met me." Ombre snapped, tear blinded, "I'm not her dark half, I never was."

"What?"

"I'm not a yami, I don't know what I am, but everything I've known for the last four years has been a lie!"

"Has the link to Kari changed?"

"No but…"

"Has the link to Shadowfae changed?"

"No…"

"Are you still friends with us?"

"Yes."

"And are you still interested in becoming Clan?"

"Of course." Ombre wondered where Yami was going with this.

"Then the only thing I can see has changed is the fact that you're not a dark like me and Bakura, if anything it gives you an advantage. You're going to be saner then us two at the end of this."

"But who am I? Robyn said this damn thing holds answers." She glared at the Orb.

Yami smiled and poked the Orb, which was now being worn by Ombre. "If it does hold memories, it probably has the answers." The smile died, Yami's face paling. "Yugi!" Yami turned and ran for it, Ombre in pursuit.

"Yami? Yami, what?"

"Yugi! I've lost the link with Yugi!"

Ombre swore and continued chasing Yami up the stairs, towards the Monster's Wing.

' _Mahado! Find him!'_ Yami's order was short and to the point.

 _We're already looking!_ Mahado replied just as urgently.

Rushing down the corridor, Ombre watched in shock as something flashed past her and Yami cried out before he hit the deck.

She drew her wand, but was mid turning around when she too was hit by a Stunner and went down.

* * *

"Kari, Kari, you've got to wake up!"

"Go'way Ginny."

"Kari's its important, Ombre never came back last night!"

"What?" As sleepy as she was, the after effects of the potion she guessed, that had her up.

"Hermione, Yugi and Yami are missing too, Harry's throwing a fit."

Kari tried to sense where her dark was.

There was nothing.

"Is Harry…?"

"He can't sense them either."

"Why now?" Kari snarled, "What time is it?"

"Half eight."

Kari swore in English, French and Egyptian, throwing on her swimsuit and jogging bottoms, along with her trainers, no time for socks, "Could it be someone trying to distract us from the task?"

"You and Harry have to compete, it's a binding magical contract; your magical cores will rebound and quite possibly kill you if you don't."

"Dumbledore failed to mention that one." Kari shot down the stairs, "But then that wouldn't be the only thing he hasn't mentioned."

The gang were gathered in the Common Room, all of them, and Kari caught Harry's eyes, "We have to find them."

"No." Joey shook his head. "We'll find them; you have to concentrate on the task."

"But….!" Harry and Kari echoed each other.

"No, this could be exactly what whoever has taken them wants, to distract the pair of you from the task. We can't let that happen."

Kari's hands clenched into fists.

"But, I can't…" Harry started.

"…You have to." Seto butted in, "There's nothing more you can do, the Duel Monsters are searching top to bottom, we'll start soon; your friends wouldn't want you to lose your magic because of them."

"I can't lose her again." Kari shook her head.

"You won't, I promise." Seto said, "But you will leave this to us, got it?"

"But Seto…"

"I swear on my deck and wand, Harry, we'll find Yugi and Yami, just focus on the task."

"We'll split up." Joey was saying, "I'm sure they're fine, but Ginny, Mokuba and Luna will go with Kari and Harry to the lake, and make sure they get through the task safely. Muto Grandfather will be waiting there, so some of us had better show."

Seto nodded, "In the meantime, Joey and I will help the Duel Monsters search for them and we won't stop until they're safe, got it?"

Harry nodded.

"Thank you."

"They'll be fine."

Kari froze. "Oh no."

"What?"

"Hermione knew something was going to happen, why else would she specifically give us 'dreamless sleep' potions."

"I'm gonna kill her."

"You may not need to if Yami finds out she allowed someone to take Yugi."

"Harry, do you have the gillyweed?"

Harry nodded.

"Kari, have you prepared what you need to?"

"Yes, but I need…"

"What?"

"Seto, were you there when I taught Hermione what to do, just in case?"

Seto nodded.

"Do you remember it?"

"Yes."

"Thank the Gods. You have to come to the lake."

"Alright, I'll be there and I'll be ready, just in case. Now go and eat."

"I'll go with them." Mokuba said, and his girls agreed, heading down to breakfast so that the food had gone down before they had to enter the water.

"This is insane." Joey complained as they split up to search, "Did anyone think to check the Hospital Wing?"

"Eight times already."

"Where are they?"

* * *

"Muto Grandfather. Black Sirius, Dursley Dudley." Kari bowed, "Welcome."

"Kari, Harry." Muto Grandfather accepted the hug from the young woman, and looked around, "We're short on numbers aren't we? Where are Yugi, Yami, Ombre and Hermione?"

"Umm, that's a very good question." Joey admitted, "They never came back to the dorm last night, we've been looking all morning."

Sirius frowned, "Can you think of any reason they might not have come back?"

"Yugi went to talk to Boh. Ombre needed some space." Joey ticked them off on his fingers, "Yami was with Ombre and Professor McGonagall came and collected Hermione for something late last night." He said as they walked down to the lake, "I'm going to go back up to the castle once everyone else is at the lake, to help the Duel Monsters."

"Harry, do you mind if I go with him?" Sirius asked.

Harry shook his head, "I'm really worried about them."

"I told you, we'll find them." Joey promised as they reached the edge of the lake, where the boats were to take them out to the stands. "Now do you have everything?"

Harry gave an irritated sigh at being asked that for the thirtieth time and pulled out two lots of gillyweed, "Yes."

Kari held up her wand, "Yes."

"And you're both going to come back relatively unscathed, right?"

"Right." The pair agreed.

"Good luck then." Joey ruffled Harry's hair and hugged Kari.

"Be careful kiddo." Sirius told Harry.

"You too." Harry nodded.

Sirius and Joey headed back up and the rest piled into boats. Once in and on their way, Seto turned to Kari, glaring, "You do realise this is probably the stupidest thing you've ever done, right?"

"Freediving?" Kari asked, "I think it rates a three."

"Only a three?"

"I am transfiguring a dolphin to get me down there and back." Kari pointed out, "They can only dive for fifteen minutes and I've gone swimming in the lake so many times I know where the merpeople live."

You'll have a maximum of seven minutes before you'll have to surface again, I timed you, remember? Do you think you can do it?"

Kari nodded. "I think so."

"It's a bit late to be thinking so."

"I should be looking for Ombre."

"You have to finish the task. Get it over with and then go look for her."

"We're here."

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Harry said, turning to Kari, "Good luck."

"You too."

* * *

"What exactly is going on?" Sirius asked Joey as they started searching the Dungeons.

"Basically Yugi and Yami are targets for kidnapping attempts, like Harry, and they both went missing last night, along with our Muggle-Born friend, Hermione, and Kari's 'twin sister' Ombre." Joey sighed, "We've been searching all morning but we couldn't let Harry or Kari miss the task."

"Where haven't you looked?"

"Teacher's lounge, the Slytherin Common Rooms, Teacher's private rooms…" Joey listed the places, "Seto checked the Ravenclaw Common Room, Ryou checked the Hufflepuff one and we searched top to bottom in both the Gryffindor one and the Monster's Wing."

"Can't get into the Slytherin Common Room?"

"We tend to have trouble with people from Slytherin House, well except Yami's girlfriend, Astraea, she's alright."

"Yami's dating a Slytherin?"

"It was originally because of the Yule Ball, we had this stupid game going, you got more points if managed to get a Slytherin to date you if you were in Gryffindor."

Sirius snorted, "He win?"

"No." Joey laughed, for a moment the worry was gone, "I'm in the lead at the moment."

"Why?" Sirius sounded interested.

"Cordi and Alecia." Joey grinned, "My Hufflepuff girls."

"Two?" Sirius sounded impressed.

"I asked both of them by accident." Joey grinned. Then the worry was back as he wondered what the time was, "I wish I knew where Astraea was, she could check the Common Room for us." He sighed, "I bet she's watching the task though."

Sirius grinned, "I might have an idea. Let's start from the Gryffindor Common Room."

"Why?"

"What's my animagus form?"

Joey's eyes widened and then he face palmed, "Why didn't we think of that earlier?"

"Shall we?"

They rushed up the stairs, Sirius bounding up the stairs in dog form, following Joey up to the boy's dorm where he sniffed Yami's bed, barked and shot back down again.

Joey followed him, as he led Joey first down the stairs, and then back up the stairs, and then back down again, onto the grounds, and across them.

Joey couldn't help wondering where they were going, right up until they reached the Whomping Willow, where Sirius changed back into a human. "Through there."

"The Shrieking Shack…" Joey growled, "Should've guessed."

"Well?"

"Let's go."

* * *

Kari broke the surface, panting for breath.

It was fifteen to twenty minutes into the task and she'd been unlucky with her first dive, though she could safely say that it took three minutes to reach the bottom with the dolphin she'd transfigured at the start of the task, she had been off by a few meters and while it wouldn't have mattered had she been doing this a sane way, freediving it, she had no spare moments to waste.

The mistake with the second dive had been her own, when she'd gotten down far enough she'd seen what or rather who had been taken and the shock had caused her to let out her breath. Combine that with the fact she'd had to blast away a couple of Grindylows, and she'd reached the surface, coughing and spluttering.

Yugi, Hermione, Ombre and some unknown she had to guess was related or important to Fleur in some way were down there…

Deliberately hyperventilating for a moment, she took a deep breath and directed the dolphin to dive. Holding on tightly, she allowed it to tow her to the bottom, where Harry was already untying Yugi.

She caught his eye as she freed Ombre, who was pale and unmoving… if Ombre had drowned, there would be hell to pay.

Tapping her watch, she watched as Harry nodded and then she grabbed Ombre tightly and had the dolphin tow her to the surface. There just wasn't enough time, the way she was doing it, to stick around, and though she surfaced with Ombre, she had every intention of going back.

Ombre awoke as the fresh air hit them and Kari gasped for air. "Hikari?"

"Ombre?… Oh thank Ra… what happened?" Kari gasped, light headed and dizzy, having only just broken the surface in time.

"Dunno, Yami and I were attacked when we went looking for… Yugi! Where is he?"

"Still down there… I'm going back in a minute." Kari growled, "Thanks Seto." She nodded as he helped Ombre out of the water and then offered her his hand, but she shook her head. "Yugi and Hermione are still down there… along with a girl…"

"It's Fleur's sister. Fleur got attacked by the Grindylows, she can't complete the task."

"And no one's gone down for her?"

"We're not allowed to interfere with the task."

"I'm gone." Kari said, taking a deep breath and diving, however she didn't get very far before she was stopped at trident point, by one of the merpeople.

"One only."

Kari shook her head and drew her wand, the mermaid… she guessed it was a mermaid, they didn't look like conventional mermaids, didn't move.

She pointed her wand at it and in exchange had the tip of the trident pressed into her throat.

"Please! My friends are still down there!" Kari pleaded, then realised what she'd done and rose to the surface quickly, coughing and spluttering, and before she could do anything, she'd been hauled out of the water by Mr Muto and Seto and they were helping her expel the water from her lungs.

"Mermaids." She coughed, on her hands and knees and coughing out water as Ombre rubbed her back, "Can't get back down there."

Half a moment later Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey were at her side too, "Miss Ironhide? Both of you?"

"Completed the task, Professor." Kari gasped, before she had another coughing fit.

"Here." Madam Pomfrey handed the two blankets and pepper up potion. "Let me check you over, both of you."

Kari just nodded, now panting but no longer forcibly expelling water, watching and waiting… the spell on the dolphin had faded, it had to be around the hour mark… the rock she'd used sinking to the bottom of the lake…

"Thank you Professor."

"I should have known that this was what you wanted the spell for." Professor McGonagall nodded, a tactic smile showing that she accepted the thanks.

"Yugi… Harry… Hermione…"

* * *

"Let me." Sirius said, and was about to change back into his dog form when Joey summoned Baby Dragon, who darted forward, under the waving branches of the Whomping Willow and pressed the knot which froze it.

"Shall we?" Joey asked.

Sirius nodded, letting Joey take the lead, following Joey up the darkened corridor, lit only by the lumos from their wands.

"Of course if they're not here, and we don't find em, the gang's going to kill me."

 _Joey!_ Joey straightened up, bashing his head.

"OW! WHAT?!" Joey snapped, having bashed his head. _"Did you find them Tobias?"_

_Kisara says that Kaiba says that Ombre, Hermione and Yugi were taken as part of the second task and Kari's already rescued Ombre, but she can't get back past the merpeople._

" _Well at least we know where they are…"_

 _Harry's still down there._ Tobias advised.

"Joey?" Sirius asked, "I didn't say anything…"

"My partner Duel Monster, Tobias, who's a Red Eyes Black Dragon, just informed me telepathically that Yugi, Hermione and Ombre were taken as part of the task. Kari's already saved one, she had to surface, but Harry's still down there, so…" Joey shook his head, semi-amused, "Whoever thought that this was a good idea is going to get an earful." He snorted.

"So it's just Yami that's missing?"

"I bet it's something to do with the task, they couldn't have captured and drugged Yugi without Yami causing a riot, so they would have had to have taken him down too. I just want to know where they're keeping him and then I'll have a few words with them." Joey's tone turned dark for a moment, and Sirius shivered slightly, his Godson was going to become Clan with these people and he wasn't sure how to take Joey from one moment to the next, and he was one of the saner ones.

They entered the Shrieking Shack, which was dustier and more cobweb infested then the last time they had been in here, but no less wreaked.

"If Yami was awake, there'd be no way they could hold him here." Joey said, looking around and not even having to think about it, "But if they've drugged him, it wouldn't be hard to keep him prisoner."

Sirius wondered what Joey meant by that, he knew Yami and Yugi were the keepers of some pretty powerful magic, but was Yami really powerful enough to escape from someone like Dumbledore?"

Reverting to his dog form, Sirius continued sniffing for Yami's scent, sneezing as he breathed in some of the dust, leading Joey upstairs and down the hall to the last room, where there was a clean room, with fresh linen and robes, and on the bed…

"There you are." Joey sighed in relief at the sight of Yami and cast the diagnostic spell that Madam Pomfrey had taught them after Harry's Shadow Game with Draco, " _Tobias, I found him. He's been dosed with a sleeping potion."_

_I'll tell the others._

"Is he ok?" Sirius asked.

"I think so; he just appears to be asleep." Joey said finally, "I can't wait to see the fireworks that erupt over this one, they're going to be huge."

"You sound rather cheerful about that."

"Yami doesn't like being drugged, he certainly won't like the fact Yugi was drugged and he will want to play a Shadow Game with whoever drugged both him and Yugi and put Yuge in danger." Joey growled, "And to be perfectly honest, if I had his powers, I would too."

"What's a Shadow Game?"

* * *

"You knew." Seto accused Hermione, once she'd found the group, having been rescued by Krum around ten minutes ago.

"I knew they'd take someone important to Harry and Kari, but I knew it couldn't be Yami, because he can't swim, so I figured that it would be Yugi and Ombre. I had no idea Yami would go missing on top of that." Hermione said, "I figured that it was better that Harry and Kari got a full night's sleep without worrying."

"Harry, Yugi and Gabrielle are still down there." Kari said, "And it's been an hour and twenty minutes."

"He'll be on his second lot of Gillyweed by now."

"We should go down and…"

"There!" Ginny was pointing excitedly, there where three people had surfaced…

"Harry! Yugi!" As exhausted as she was, Kari was on her feet, waving enthusiastically. "Over here!" Madam Pomfrey was back, having been checking on Krum.

Harry was low in the water, still having gills, but he was supporting Fleur's sister on one side, while Yugi supported her on the other, and after getting help from Seto and Mokuba to get out of the water, Harry swam around in the water a little longer, waiting for the second batch of Gillyweed to wear off.

Meanwhile the judges were deliberating on the score. Dumbledore had called them over when Yugi and Gabrielle had been pulled onto the platform and Madam Pomfrey had checked them over.

"What about Yami?" Harry asked.

"What's wrong with…?" Yugi asked, concerned.

"He was drugged, he's ok, but he hasn't woken up yet." Seto said, "Joey and Sirius found him."

"Thank the Gods." Harry breathed a sigh of relief, making Kari grin, still amused at hearing Yami's phrases coming from Harry's mouth.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's voice reverberated off the stands and everyone fell silent to listen. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the Champions as follows."

"Here we go…"

"Miss Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble Head Charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approached her goal and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

There was applause from the crowds.

"Miss Kari Ironhide, who used transfiguration to create an aquatic creature to assist her in reaching the bottom of the lake, was the first to arrive safely with her hostage and well within the time limit. Therefore, we award her, the full fifty points."

"Oh yeah!" Mokuba crowed, delighted, as there was another round of applause and Kari gave everyone a high five.

"Vicktor Krum used an incomplete form of self-transfiguration which was none the less effective, and was the second to return with his captive, though he was ten minutes outside the time limit."

Harry frowned, he had thought that he had returned outside the time limit, but not by as much as that, and if Krum was that much over…

"And as such, we award Mr Krum, forty points."

"And finally, though Mr Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect, he was the last to return with his hostage and he was well outside of the time limit. However, Merchieftainess Murcus has informed me that Mr Potter was first to reach the hostages and his delay was because of his determination to return all the hostages to safety, not only his own."

"You were successful too." Kari said, giving Harry a grin.

"Most of us feel that this shows outstanding moral fibre, and as such, we award Mr Potter forty-eight points!"

"Yes!" Kari yelled, leaning over the water to give Harry a high five, as cheers erupted.

"The third and final task will be held on the twenty-fourth of June, the Champions will be informed exactly a month before. Thank you for your support of the Champions."

They were back in the boats before they knew it, and an exhausted Harry and Kari fell asleep before they reached the shore and had to be woken up.

"So tired." Kari complained, she was awake more by adrenaline then anything, and she felt ill.

"Nearly back to the school."

Harry felt Yami's end of the link open and he looked over at Yugi, who was giving a relived smile. _`You ok Yami?`_

' _Who is it I have to have words with?'_ Yami asked; his tone so dark that Harry gave Yugi a startled look. Yugi had bitten his bottom lip.

" _Yami, you can't…!"_ Yugi sounded frantic.

' _They attacked us, drugged us, they put you in danger!'_

" _But I'm OK, Harry's OK, Ombre's OK, no one was hurt…"_

_`I'm ok, honest, Yami!`_

' _They can't get away with it.'_

" _If they hadn't attacked us, they wouldn't have had anyone for Kari and Harry to rescue, and they would have been expelled from Hogwarts."_

' _They should never have put you in danger.'_ Yami's anger wasn't breaking.

" _Yami…"_

_`I'm sorry Yami, that you and Yugi were attacked because of me, but I will repay you, I promise…`_

' _Harry…'_ Yami's mental state didn't change, but his tone lightened for a moment.

_`I don't know how yet, but I promise I'll think of something I can do to help you both.`_

" _See? You need to calm down, Yami, we're both fine, nothing went wrong and I'm sure there were fail safes in place just in case."_ Actually he wasn't, but he wasn't going to tell Yami that while he was in this mood, _"Besides, do you really want to bring down the wrath of the English Ministry, to go with the American one?"_

' _Yugi…'_

"What's wrong?" Seto asked, having caught Yugi and Harry's expressions.

"Yami."

"What's wrong with him?"

"We should be glad that he's in the Shrieking Shack." Yugi advised, "And nowhere near Dumbledore."

Seto sighed, "He really needs a lid on that temper of his."

"I know this, you know this…" Yugi turned to his Grandpa, while Harry told Yami exactly what had happened in the lake, and dealt with Yami's temper, "Grandpa, do you remember what I wrote in that last letter?"

"About the Clan signing that was going to happen this afternoon?"

Yugi nodded.

"We," And he indicated everyone of their group present, "Were wondering if you wanted to be a Founder of the Domino Clan."

"You want me to be a Founder?" Solomon sounded surprised.

"Uh huh." Yugi nodded, "It would mean that you'd be the oldest, so if anyone who was made an orphan, you would automatically become their guardian and you'd have English, Japanese, American and Egyptian citizenship… I know it's a lot of responsibility but…"

"I'll do it." Grandpa said, nodding, "The oldest otherwise, would be Kaiba right?"

"That's right; we're going to ask Sirius too…"

"I'll sign; Kaiba's always busy with his company and Sirius… well…"

"Mr Muto?" Harry asked.

"It's nothing Harry." Grandpa assured him, "Sirius is Sirius."

"You're sure about this?"

"I would be happy to be a Founder of the Domino Clan."

* * *

"Yami, Yami calm down." Joey called, as Yami started glowing purple. "Pharaoh!" Joey snapped. _Tobias, get Mahado to talk to him. I knew he was going to be bad, but this is ridiculous!_

"Joey?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius, meet Yami after someone's put Yugi in danger." Joey sighed, "And Yami, if you don't calm down, I'm going to set Yugi on you when we get out of here, or worse I'll set Kari's friend on you."

Yami visibly forced the Shadows away, but anger still was visible in his stance and features, "Sorry."

"Just remember that you have to keep your temper in check, I don't particularly fancy getting blasted halfway across the room by a stray bolt of Shadow Magic, thank you very much." He twated Yami round the back of the head, "Think please."

Yami glared, and then the glare softened to still irritated amusement, "You, asking me to think before I act?"

"Yeap… hey I think!" Joey protested.

Poor Sirius was incredibly confused, one minute Joey had been acting as if Yami was about to blow them all to smithereens and now they were joking around… it was too late to rescinded his permission for Harry, the forms had gone in, but was it safe?

He should have spent more time around them before agreeing to it…

"So?" Joey asked, "Party?"

"We'd better go before Hermione shuts it down." Yami agreed.

"She's not that bad."

"With the Clan ritual tonight? She'll be a nightmare."

"Ok, you might have a point."

"I just hope that being a Clan Founder means that I'm classed as human again."

"You're not at the moment?"

"Nope, he's a pet." Joey laughed. "Watch out, he bites!"

"I do not!"

"One potentially dangerous magical creature over here!" Joey laughed, pointing at Yami. "The best way to keep yourself safe is to make sure that you have a Yugi close at hand."

"I'm not that bad!"

"Wanna bet?"

"I'm not that bad!"

Joey laughed, "Come on, I'm hungry, I haven't eaten all morning."

"Why not?"

"Just come on!"

* * *

"We come together," Hermione said, "To officially found the Domino Clan."

They'd changed the name on the form at the last minute, as they had been informed that they couldn't use that family name without permission of several members of that family and since there was only one left…

"After tonight, we'll be one family. Under Clan law, we shall stand together."

They were in the Monster's Wing, the Common Room of which had been cleared so they could all get in, and the Duel Monsters had gone home, so they didn't interfere.

Sirius had gone home already, taking Dudley with him, but Solomon was stood next to his grandsons, and he was amused to think that soon all these young men and women would be his grandchildren.

"We stand side by side, against all odds and against everyone who would break our bonds," Kari continued from where Hermione had left off, "Together, the Clan is stronger then when we are split apart."

Everyone just knew she was referring to the summer holidays when no one had been able to reach anyone and once again souls had been on the line.

"Solomon Muto, will you become patriarch of the Clan?" Kari asked.

"I will."

"And do you, the Founders of the Clan accept this, as I do?"

"We do." Eight voices out of nine agreed, the other had asked the question.

"Then drink the potion, sign the sheet, and put a drop of blood next to your name."

Ten names and ten drops of blood were put on the paper and for a moment it glowed with many colours.

"Our names and magics are registered, the Domino Clan is founded." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as all ten drops went green due to the potion. Then she grinned, "It worked."

The ritual, it seemed wasn't over, and magic flew from the piece of paper, and a little of each colour flew into each member of the Clan, knocking everyone over on their butts.

"What was that?" Yami asked, eyes bright, sensing everyone for a moment before the magic settled down and it was back to just sensing Harry and Yugi.

"I think that was our magic linking." Hermione said, just as confused, "I'm not sure why…"

"All the Clans before have had only wand magic." Kari pointed out, "Unlike us, who all have wand magic as well as something else, so I think we all now have a little bit of each other's. Not much," She clarified, "But enough to allow us to each understand the other's magics…"

"Oops?" Kari offered.

"It wasn't in the research." Hermione said, confused.

"Like Kari said, it's not something that has happened before."

There was silence for a moment, and they all just looked at each other, smiling slightly.

"So, little brother," Joey grinned at Yami, "What do you think? Becoming part of the family improve my chances of winning Tournaments?"

"Maybe," Yami replied, ignoring the 'little brother' comment, "But only if we're not competing." He indicated himself and Yugi.

"You can't beat me… oh…" Seto smirked, "That reminds me, have any of you seen the notes that went up this morning?"

"We were a little busy searching the castle and worrying about the task." Joey growled.

"Or being drugged." Yugi added.

"To worry about reading notes."

"Hogwarts is hosting an interschool Wizard Duel Monsters tournament between Hogwarts, Beuxbatons and Durmstrang, as an additional part of the Triwizard Tournament, it doesn't affect the scores in anyway, but I've put up the prize."

"What is it?" Yami looked interested.

"An all expenses paid trip to India." Seto said, "With spending money and sightseeing around the most magical areas of the country."

"Sounds interesting." Yugi nodded, thinking about it. "How many people are allowed to enter from each school?"

"We figure sixteen."

"I won't enter then." Yugi said, deciding, "It wouldn't be fair if all of us entered." He indicated the group as a whole, "Others wouldn't get the chance."

"You can't drop out!" Joey and Seto protested at the same time.

"Actually I think it's a good idea." Yami agreed, backing up his hikari, "After that article came out, if word got out that we were competing, you wouldn't get the students from Hogwarts, because everyone here knows that we don't lose."

"Over confident much?" Seto growled.

"Just telling the truth."

"Guys!" Joey whining.

"Can I enter?" Harry asked.

"I don't see why not. Someone has to." Mokuba complained.

"I'll enter." Hermione raised her hand.

"Me too." Ombre and Kari grinned at the same time.

"I'll compete, if you can bear to have me in your tournament." Joey said, referencing the sheer number of times that Kaiba had invited Joey and then complained about him the whole time.

"And Seto makes six," Yugi counted, "Meaning that there are ten spaces open for our school still."

"Are you sure I can't convince you to compete?"

"Uh huh."

Seto didn't believe them, he was certain they'd put their names down in the end, they couldn't resist a tournament.

Then the door slammed open. "What did you do?" A very distressed Robyn wailed.

"Robyn?" Kari asked, incredibly confused, how did Robyn know the password?

Wait… stupid question. Robyn knew everything.

"Is something wrong, Miss Golden?" Yami asked calmly, getting to his feet.

"Of all the insane... Yes, there's something wrong, how did you invoke my magic in a ritual I have nothing to do with?"

"All we did was complete the Clan ritual." Hermione said, "We've been planning it for months."

"But you weren't involved in the ritual; it shouldn't have messed with your magic." Yugi looked over to Kari who was exchanging a look with Hermione, a very confused that asked 'what the hell?'

And in a cold voice, "Exactly which Clan ritual did you use." Robyn asked.

"This one." Kari stood up and collected her notes and plans from the table, showing them to Robyn, "The one that means that we stand as one group, together, bound to help and protect each other, 'we stand together'…"

"We researched it carefully," Hermione said, "And other then that little display at the end where we all received a little bit of everyone else's magic, it went exactly according to plan."

Robyn flipped through the notes, and sighed. "You forgot to take into account other magical bindings."

"Other magical bindings?" Hermione shot to her feet and grabbed her copy of the notes off of the table, shifting through them, "Ummm," She looked confused, "Are you talking about life debts?" She asked, "Because I thought I took into account those… Life debts owed in, right? I worked it out to be everyone in here, owed everyone else in here at least four life debts…"

"Umm, Hermione, I think we had it the wrong way around." Kari realised. "I think it must have been Life Debts owed out, not in…" _"And I owe Robyn at least three."_

"Have you no knowledge of the basics laws of magic? This ritual was designed to provide guardians; any person who has in the past saved one of the members, and would willingly do so again also gets bound. Magic likes children, and is willing to twist anything to protect them, why do you think accidental magic is so common."

"Oh…" Hermione gulped, "Oops."

"Oops?" Yami demanded, "Oops is never good."

"Oops I think we might have accidently let some of your former foes into the Clan." Hermione said quickly, before hiding behind Ombre.

"Like who?"

"Marik, Pegasus… Bakura possibly."

"Huh, none of us owe…"

"Actually we do, Yami, if he hadn't given us back that Puzzle piece, or helped Tea and Tristan, or ripped control away from Marik…"

"Damn."

"You are performing a bloodline ritual as soon as possible. Research it," Robyn scribbled a note on a blank piece of parchment, "And tell me what ingredients you'll need, I'll order them. And you better hope that this insanity hasn't distributed my magical gifts."

"Why?" Hermione asked quickly, since it looked like Robyn was about to storm off again.

Robyn glared, "Because the more Seers you have in close proximity, the more visions occur, and the harder it is to change the future."

"Oh."

"Yes. Oh."

"We'll do it as soon as possible." Kari nodded. "We'll head to the library right now; we need to know who else got in."

"Can we wait until I stop feeling like I've just gotten off of a roundabout?" Yugi asked.

"You ok?" Yami asked him.

"My magic hasn't settled yet, I was balanced before, now I feel off kilter, I'll be ok soon."

"A good bloodline potion takes months, and it'll probably be best to have one that identifies active abilities... and do you know how long it'll take... training... I need to look up training methods again... and HA! When I go insane you lot will have to look after me!" Robyn declared, before exiting the room.

"Uhhh…"

"What was that about?" Mokuba asked.

"I think we did something we shouldn't have."

"When don't we?" Joey complained.

"Isn't she already crazy?" Yami groaned, still not completely sure what had happened and willing his magic to settle back down so he had a grip on it again.

"No, she could be a lot worse." Hermione advised, "I've read about Seers who have gone crazy from looking too far into the future or from someone looking through them into the future, and if you think Robyn's bad, you should see what's written about some of them."

"So this is sane Robyn?"

"Uh huh."

"Great." Joey sighed with a great deal of sarcasm.

"Boys, could you walk with me to Professor Dumbledore's office?" Solomon asked, "I'd like to have a word before I go home."

"Sure Grandpa." Yugi stood up, finding that his feet were a lot more steady then his grip on his magic, and offered his Grandfather a hand up. "We'll see you guys later?"

"Sure." Joey nodded.

"You too Joey, and you Harry."

The five left and Mokuba frowned, "I suddenly feel left out."

"I wouldn't." Kari advised, "I think Grandpa's about to chew 'em out."

* * *

"Gramps, you alright?" Joey asked, concerned for the older gentleman, but he waved it off.

"I'm used to odd shifts in my magic, too many shifts during too many adventures to count," Solomon said, but that isn't why I've asked you to come with me."

"What's wrong?"

"You do realise what this means right?"

The boys frowned and shook their heads, unsure what Solomon was on about.

"You're bound now, to stand by those of the Clan that are in danger, even if it's danger of their own creation, and they have to stand by you, even if they've led you into a trap."

"Oh."

"Oh doesn't cover it, the 'we will stand together' clause means that you'll have to stand by your enemy's side as well as your brother's, if they are Clan." He warned, looking at Joey, knowing he had considered the two Mutos family before this.

The four boys looked thoughtful.

"Sorry Grandpa." Yugi bowed his head.

"I'm not really angry, Yugi." Solomon sighed, "I just want you to know what side effects this could have. You've opened yourself wide open for an attack if the wrong person works out how to manipulate this."

"We should have made sure we had it right." Yami bowed his head too, "Sorry Grandpa."

"It's not your fault Yami, or yours Yugi. Neither is it yours Joey, nor yours Harry, the Life Debt mistake is easy to make when you've done all the research yourself but…" Solomon sighed, "Just be careful until you find out who is on the list of Clan members, and I want a copy when you've found out."

"Alright." Harry nodded, suddenly aware that this wise old wizard was now lawfully his Grandfather.

"Just promise me the four of you will be careful." Solomon asked.

"We promise." The four chorused.

There was silence for a moment, until they reached Dumbledore's office, and then Harry turned to Solomon. "Umm, why did you include me in the group?" Harry indicated Yugi, Yami and Joey, "Not that I'm not grateful but…"

"You're linked to my boys, aren't you?" Solomon asked.

Harry nodded.

"That makes you one of mine too." Solomon said, ruffling Harry's hair, "And you deserve to have the same warning as they do. What affects one, affects us all, but we're not all linked together like you four…"

"I'm not…"

"I know you're not mind linked to these three," Solomon told Joey, "But if anything happened to one of them, you'd be just as devastated as if you had been... once your temper had run its course. Just be careful and make sure you stand together, don't let anyone get between you, ok?"

The four nodded.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like a few words with the Headmaster before I go home and you've got to head to the library."

"Mr Muto?" Harry asked.

"It's Grandpa, Harry, you don't have to be so formal. Now off you lot go, the sooner you know who's family and who isn't the easier it will be." He shooed them off and turned to the gargoyle that was watching with interest and waiting for the password. "Candy Canes."


	16. It's Time to D-d-d-d-duel!

"Are you sure I can't do something about her?" Harry, who'd been sensing Yami's irritation since he'd gotten out of the bath, after their training session, walked into the Great Hall to hear the Pharaoh complaining at his hikari.

"Morning guys." Harry waved, "What's wrong?"

"Skeeter's at it again." Joey shrugged, "Just in time for the latest of the Hogsmead weekends."

"And Yami wants to Shadow Game her." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What is it this time?" Harry snorted.

"Yami, sit down and calm down or I'll set Robyn on you." Yugi glared, before glancing over at Harry, "She was rather rude about Astraea, accusing her of being a gold digger, which of course we know isn't true."

"Yami doesn't have any money, so how can Astraea be a gold digger?" Harry frowned, "Besides, Astraea seems to be alright about it." He said, picking out the Slytherin teen among the crowd at that table.

"She wasn't when we first came down, she was furious until she realised that Yami wasn't mad at her. We should be very glad Skeeter wasn't in the castle this morning."

"There would have been pieces of her leaving." Joey nodded. "Maybe we should, you know, stop getting the Daily Prophet. Oh and I had a thought."

"What's that?"

"Well Yuge and I saw a maze as a task right?"

"Uh huh."

"And neither of the two tasks so far have been mazes right?"

"Uh huh."

"So that means that the third task has to be the maze and what are we doing about it?"

"As of today, we're going to the library to research as many non-lethal combative spells as we can find and we're going to learn as many of them as we can."

"What about direction spells?"

"Already looking." Hermione said, holding up the book. What Harry had assumed was another one of those really old books that she'd been engrossed in recently was in fact a well worn library book on magical dowsing.

"Um, how is finding water going to help?"

Hermione gave him a despairing look, "There should be something in here about finding out which direction you're going in."

"Have you decided what you're going to do yet about the Orb of Light yet?" Joey asked Kari, who held the Orb in hand and sighed.

"I don't know, I feel like I should take it with me, just in case, but then I don't want to take it…"

"Just in case." Yugi finished for her, nodding in understanding.

"I've been playing with the memories inside it," Kari continued, "But there's not really much advice you can get from the past about something that none of the former wielders have been through. I just worry that if something happens…" Kari sighed, she had that lost look about her again, as if she had realised she was being swept away by the tides, hadn't quite reached panic yet, but didn't really know what to do about it.

"You'd bring it back safely." Ombre said confidently. She was as worried as the rest of the Clan about the events of the third task, especially since Harry and Kari were going to disappear unless they did something about it, but had enough confidence in her partner to trust that she and Harry would come back safely.

"I suppose I'll wait to work it out on the day, after all, a lot can change in a couple of months, I might have worked out the secrets of the damn thing by then."

"Just don't get lost in the memories again please." Yugi said, remembering how long it had taken Ombre to find her when she had.

"No thank you." Kari shuddered, remembering the first time she'd dipped into the memories in the Orb and gotten completely lost and turned around and had been unable to get back to reality until Ombre had helped her.

"Any luck yet?" Yami asked, as he had at least once a week, since Kari had started using the Orb's memory banks extensively.

No one could blame him but it did get wearing after a while, especially when the answer was, "No, not yet, there's a lot of memories to get through and I'm having 'fun' sorting them. I'm getting there," That was new, "I caught a glimpse of either you," She looked at Joey, "Or someone who looked a lot like you, last night, so either that was a memory of mine or a memory of Ombre's."

"Shouldn't that have been easy to work out?" Ron asked.

"You try sorting through memories that don't want to be seen." Kari growled, "I don't know why, but I've seen very few memories of my own or of Ombre's. It's like I'm not allowed to look at them."

"Perhaps you're not." Yugi said, thinking, "Perhaps Ombre has to find her memories on her own first and perhaps you have to work out how to store your memories."

Kari looked at Ombre, who lowered her eyes; they'd had that conversation the day after the Clan Ritual. Ombre had more memories then she was letting on, the only reason she didn't have a name was because she was unsure which of the twin Princesses she was.

There had been two who had been sent to Egypt, not one, Princess Shani and Priestess Aziza. Shani had been raised to rule over the kingdom, while Aziza had been raised to take the High Priestess position at the Temple of the Sun. However it wasn't that easy.

Because they had been identical they had often swapped places, taking the other twin's lessons instead of their own, and as such it was impossible for an outsider to know which twin had sealed herself in the Orb, or if both of them had. For some reason there was too many conflicting memories, it was almost like someone had used a memory charm on the Orb, but that was impossible, right?

However, Kari had promised Ombre that she wouldn't say anything and hadn't yet, to anyone, not even Hermione.

"You'll work it out." Joey shrugged, sitting down and starting his own breakfast, "When the time is right."

"I suppose." Kari sighed, "It's just irritating."

There was silence for a moment as everyone chowed down and then Joey spoke up again, "Oh, I'll be a bit late joining you guys in the Three Broomsticks, Cordi and Alecia wanted to meet up…"

"Who knows, it might be a long lasting relationship." Yugi said, before looking down the table for something that wasn't pumpkin juice. Where did they even find pumpkins at this point of the year? They were out of season…

"You'd be the envy of most of the male population if it was." Harry added.

"I wish. But no, they only went to the ball with me because... how did Kaiba put it, 'I completely ignored all the signals that said they were already in a relationship, and they didn't want to cause a stir at Hogwarts'" Joey groaned.

There wasn't really much you could say to that.

"I might be late too," Yami changed the subject, "Astraea's meeting me by the gates of Hogsmead."

Yugi was thoughtful, he'd spoken to Rebecca a couple of weeks ago and she'd dumped him before he could dump her, saying that she'd had fun, but she knew he wouldn't have asked her if it hadn't been for the ball. It would have been a peaceful break up, if it hadn't been for the fact that Becs had fled in tears and Luna and Ginny hadn't spoken to him for a week.

"See you guys later?" Kari asked, as Seto waited at the door for her.

"Have fun." Ombre shoved her off, having spotted Ryou getting up from the Hufflepuff table.

"Later Kari." The group drifted apart upon reaching Hogsmead, heading for various dates and shops, and Yugi found himself in the Three Broomsticks, enjoying a drink that WASN'T pumpkin juice for a change and thinking about everything.

They were due to start brewing the bloodline potion tomorrow, March 2nd, but it looked like it was going to be around the beginning of June before the potion would be ready, Robyn hadn't been joking when she had said that it would take months for a decent one to brew properly and they couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

"Yugi." Yugi's train of thoughts jumped the tracks as Ginny and Rebecca waved, having just entered the Three Broomsticks. Yugi quickly waved them over, and the two girls settled quickly.

"You got everything you wanted?" Yugi asked.

"Uh huh." Ginny rattled off a list of things they'd bought. It was quite an extensive list that made Yugi wonder how exactly it all fitted into the bags the girls were carrying. "…And a couple of ever lasting gobstoppers." Ginny finally finished. "You're not shopping?"

"Got some sweets, but we're running out of money for Hogsmead trips." Yugi shrugged, "I think me and Yami have about six Galleons between us for this trip."

"Ouch." Ginny frowned.

"You want a drink?" Rebecca asked, noting the almost empty glass.

"No thank you." Yugi shook his head.

"What're you going to do?"

"We'll just have to make sure that we make a few more tournaments this year." Yugi shrugged, "I see you have your name down for the interschool Tournament, Becs."

Becca bounced in her seat. "I should be able to take the prize easily since you're not competing."

"You do know that Seto and Joey are entering right?"

"Uh huh, they don't worry me."

"Who doesn't worry you?" Mokuba asked, joining them, with a bottle of Butterbeer.

"Rebecca was just saying that she can beat your brother at Duel Monsters easily." Ginny said.

"No way." Mokuba laughed, "Sorry Becs, you're good but you wouldn't last five seconds against my brother."

Yugi, who saw the look Ginny got, decided that now would be a good time to spend the last of his money on a drink and quickly moved away from the table, reaching the bar just in time to be able to hear the 'discussion' from across the other side of the room.

Oh this was going to be sooo much fun.

The first round was going to be played out this time next week, with, thankfully, Joey and Seto ending up in different halves of the bracket so the only time they would end up playing each other would be the finals, if both of them made it that far and if Yugi was honest with himself, he didn't really see that not happening, considering that they were two of the best Duellists in the world.

If Kari had been allowed to compete, there might have been a problem, but as a Champion, she and Harry had had to drop out as it hadn't been fair to the other Hogwarts students unless Krum and Fleur competed and they hadn't wanted to.

In a move that had surprised everyone, Astraea had decided to compete, making up the Slytherin team alongside Draco and Bakura.

It was supposed to be Hogwarts against the other two schools, but everyone knew that the group from Gryffindor, Joey, Ombre and Hermione, were looking forward to beating two of the three Slytherins at Duel Monsters, but that was only if the group from Ravenclaw, Seto, Luna and Rebecca, didn't take them out of the Tournament first… the only ones not really taking part in this little war were the Hufflepuffs, represented by Ryou and Justin, who were in it for a bit of fun.

There were eleven from Beuxbatons competing, but just ten Durmstrang students had entered, making it easy for Seto to set up the Tournament bracket, with thirty two competitors, and Yugi was kind of glad that they hadn't entered. It would be interesting just to watch and cheer from the sidelines for a change.

Yami had been busy, over the last couple of weeks, helping Astraea prepare and while Joey had quiet frequently said that he didn't think that Astraea would ever match up to Yugi or Yami, but then in an aside he'd add that he didn't think anyone ever would, Yugi had the feeling that she might surprise them.

He hadn't thought that a Slytherin who wasn't involved the Millennium Item troubles would have shown an interest in a Muggle game like Duel Monsters, but then Astraea had seemed impressed at it's scope and influence… maybe she was interested in the sort of fame and glory a high ranking Duellist, even on the normal Tournament circuit, could gain.

The two in question walked in, Astraea looking a little less uncomfortable then she had done a couple of months ago, Duel Disks under arms and Yugi rolled his eyes. Yami was spending more time duelling Astaea then he was anyone else, not that it wasn't good training, but…

Today was the last day though, Astraea had found another training partner, and they had to start on the research for the third task. The Slytherin was in Kaiba's half of the bracket, which thankfully meant that she wasn't in Bakura's half.

This however, inevitably meant, unless someone was a lot better then they expected, or someone had an incredible run of bad luck, that Kaiba would end up fighting Astraea at some point and Joey, unfortunately would probably end up fighting Bakura.

Joey had joked only last night that maybe it would be a run of incredible good luck to end up kicked out of the competition before he had to fight Bakura, and was Yami or Yugi sure that they didn't want to enter…

The Clan was gathering, including those sworn in, just as they had been promised they could be, and Yugi hurried back to the table, enjoying spending time with his family. It had to be said that what Joey had said to him at Christmas had eased his worries a bit, but he still worried what the others would say sometimes…

"Yuge!" Joey grinned, apparently cheered up, as Kari and Seto trailed in, last of all, "Listen to this, right…"

* * *

Sixteen Duels were being held today, all over the grounds of Hogwarts, and some how the Clan had to spread themselves out evenly at all the ones they wanted to watch.

It wasn't too bad, only seven instead of eight, Luna was playing Hermione down by Hagrid's hut, while Seto played Bojidar, a Durmstrang Student, at the lake side, Rebecca was facing off against Adeline, from Beuxbatons, a little further around.

Meanwhile Joey was fighting Iordan in the Great Hall, Ombre was facing Kiril in the Defence Against the Dark Arts room, Ryou was fighting Carole in an empty Charms classroom and Astraea was battling Celeste in a potions classroom.

The Clan were convinced that wouldn't have been allowed had Astraea not been a Slytherin.

In theory this should be an easy round, but they weren't taking the risk of underestimating their opponents. The only thing that was reassuring was that this was an inter-school tournament, not a Muggle world one, so it was a lot less likely that something particularly bad would happen, although the old body guard rosta had started up again, just in case, swapping who was being protected from Quidditch Players to Duellists and Champions.

There was little worry now, but when things got heated later on everyone could just see hexes flying in order to put people out of commission before the matches and everyone wanted their Duellist or Champion to win.

To say that it had been an interesting week would be an understatement.

And this would continue until the day before the last task, when the finals were held…

Yugi had decided to stick with Joey, cheering from the sidelines, and wondered as the two Duellists took their places and activated the enchanted Duel Disks, if they had deliberately placed Joey and Seto somewhere that their dragons would fit easily.

"Let's Duel!" Joey called in Japanese, while Yugi guessed that was what the Joey's opponent had called in Bulgarian. It had amused the Former King of Games that even though they seemed to all have picked up English during the duration of the translation spell, which he was certain had worn off years ago, he, Yami, Joey, Seto and Mokuba, all slipped back into Japanese when they were going into a Duel.

Perhaps he shouldn't be that surprised, Japanese was their first language, and Duel Monsters was… Yugi didn't even consider what it meant that his life had been so caught up in the game of Duel Monsters that he didn't even think about it when he said that playing the game came as naturally as breathing.

"Your move first…" The Bulgarian waved at Joey, who drew and scanned his hand quickly.

"Two cards face down and a card in defence mode." Joey said, playing quickly and easily. Yugi wasn't the only one this came naturally to anymore. "Your move."

The Bulgarian teen nodded, he wasn't anywhere as imposing as Vicktor and if Joey was honest he wasn't overly worried, but still… he hadn't been too worried about enemies before and look where that had gotten him…

"I play this in defence mode." A face down card appeared, "I play a card face down. Your move Joseph."

"Joey." Joey automatically corrected, drawing and thinking. "I tribute my face down card to summon the Flame Swordsman, and equip him with Salamandra!" His Flame Swordsman's attack points grew to 2500. "Now, attack his face down card!"

The fire serpent shot from around the sword to the card face down, which revealed itself to be Big Shield Gardna, which took the blow and then automatically switched itself into attack mode. Joey lost 100 life points, since the defence of Gardna had been 100 points higher then the attack of his Flame Swordsman. "I guess it's your go."

"I switch my Big Shield Gardna into defence mode and summoned the Obnoxious Celtic Guard in defence mode." This was a pretty safe play, becase Joey's Flame Swordsman was now too high to defeat the Celtic Guard, as it could only be destroyed by a monster with under 1900 attack points. Joey had a plan though. "Your turn."

"I summon Blue Flame Swordsman." Joey called, "And activate his effect, decreasing Blue Flame's attack by 500 and increasing Flame Swordsman by the same amount."

This took Flame Swordsman up to 3000, far above Big Shield Gardna, while Blue Flame Swordsman still had enough attack points, at 1300, to defeat the Celtic Guard while he was in defence mode. "Blue Flame Swordsman destroy his elf."

Yugi couldn't help wincing as the Celtic Guard was destroyed. He had one of those in his own deck and hated it when his was destroyed.

"Now, Flame Swordsman, destroy his Big Shield Gardna."

This too exploded, leaving the Bulgarian wide open. However, since Joey had no more monsters to attack with, he had to leave it for this turn. "Your go."

"I summon the Dark Knight in attack mode and equip him with Divine Sword – Pheonix Blade." Iordan growled, as his Knight grew to 2100, "And he attacks your Blue Flame Swordsman."

Weakened by powering up the Flame Swordsman and outmatched even if he hadn't, the Blue Flame Swordsman fell quickly, costing Joey another 800 points. Yugi frowned, certain that the Bulgarian was playing with a structure deck, as he recognised half the cards as coming from the Warrior's Revenge deck released just before he'd come back to Hogwarts.

Joey drew, but his mind was already on his next move, "Flame Swordsman, destroy Dark Knight!"

"Dust Tornado!"

"Mystical Space Typhoon!"

The Dust Tornado that would have removed the power up from Salamandra was destroyed and Dark Knight exploded in a blazing attack that cost Iordan 900 points.

"One card face down." Joey replaced the card he's used, "And it's your turn."

"One card, in defence mode." Iordan scowled, and one card face down."

Joey drew, on a roll now, "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode,. Gearfried, attack his face down card."

It was a Gearfried the Iron Knight that died, and for some reason, Joey's Flame Swordsman exploded too.

Yugi had seen the play though, "That was a Blast with Chain," He was explaining to Neville, who had asked him what had happened, "It's supposed to destroy an opponent's card when the monster it's sent to the graveyard by another card's effect, but it becomes an Equip Card and Gearfried isn't effected by Equip Cards, they automatically get destroyed when they're equipped to him."

"Is that why did Joey's Flame Swordsman exploded?"

"Uh huh." Yugi nodded, "But Joey can pull that back easily."

"Your move." Joey growled, wishing he'd thought that throw a little more carefully. That had always been his problem, he'd forget to think about the face down cards and get caught out…

"Goblin Attack Force, who wipe out your Gearfried." They did so, taking Joey down to 2600, but swapped into defence mode, where they were defenceless as they had no defence score at all. "That's it."

"Monster Reborn." Joey called, glad he'd managed to get his hands on one, "To bring back the Flame Swordsman and I also summon Battle Warrior."

The 700 attack point monster seemed worthless to most, but Yugi knew it was there only as bait and to take out the Goblin Attack Force.

"Battle Warrior, attack Goblin Attack Force."

The enemy exploded.

"Flame Swordsman, attack Iordan!"

The crowd hissed as the Swordsman struck as Iordan himself, knocking 1800 points off of his total.

"Your move."

"You're very good, Joey." Iordan said, sounding amused, "I had heard stories from your year mates, but I didn't think they were true."

"You're pretty good yourself." Joey nodded with a smile. He was enjoying this, even if he was ahead considerably. It had been far too long since they had played competitively.

"I set a card face down and end my turn."

"You're leaving yourself wide open?" Joey frowned… he didn't believe it could be this easy…

Yugi didn't believe it either, just willing to bet that the face down card was a Call of the Haunted, which was less frightening with no Pumpkin, King of Ghosts in play but could still raise one monster from the graveyard.

"Oh yeah!" Joey crowed as he drew, "Say hello to my good friend," Joey grinned, "I sacrifice Flame Swordsman and Battle Warrior for the Red Eyes Black Dragon."

Those who hadn't seen the dragon at his full size before backed up quickly as Red Eyes easily took up around half of the room. "Red Eyes, attack him directly!"

Iordan knew he would lose if he took the attack, and while he couldn't use it to decrease Joey's life points further, he activated his Call of the Haunted to summon back his Goblin Attack Force who exploded but only cost him 100 points, taking him down to 1200 life points.

"Your move."

"One card in defence mode and that's it."

"Then I end this." Joey drew, "By summoning Sasuke Samurai in attack mode."

The tiny little ninja didn't look overly threatening…

"He can destroy any monster that is in defence mode without any damage being dealt to either player and I direct him to do so now." The Samurai destroyed the face down defence position card, "I apologise, this will hurt… Red Eyes finish this."

Red Eyes blasted Iordan for 2400 points of direct damage, winning Joey the game. There were cheers from the Hogwarts spectators and boos from the Durmstrang one, but Joey offered his condolences and the wish for another game at another time and turned to Yugi, "Shall we see how the others are doing?"

* * *

Yami was watching Astraea's match, confident that his friends would win easily.

She was doing well, 200 hundred points up, at 1200, and had just taken the shock lead with her Dimension Wall trap which had just reflected the damage that she should have taken, which would have wiped her out, right back at Celeste, reflecting 1800 points of damage right back at her.

If Yami was honest, there were a few cards in that deck of hers that he wouldn't like to face, somehow the structure deck that she'd picked up, 'Curse of Darkness', included cards like the Crush Card virus, the Deck Devastation Virus, the Dark Mirror Force, making any defence monsters the opponent had completely useless as it would destroy them, and if that wasn't enough, she had the Eradicator Epidemic Virus, which crippled the player's hand, destroying it and any cards they drew for the next three turns…

"It's my move." The Slytherin glared. If she was honest, she found this girl incredibly wishy washy, with a duelling style to match, no real skill, just a lot of showing off, Astraea was well aware that she was better then this girl and knew that her house mates wouldn't let her live it down if she lost. She was staying calm but even a novice like her would have known better then to walk straight into a trap like that.

"I summon my Nightmare Steelcage." She hissed, the iron cage closing in around Celeste. Yami flinched internally, remembering Strings and how close they had come to being killed by Slifer, "Neither of us can attack for two turns, and in my free time I play Pot of Avarice, sending five monsters from my Graveyard back to my deck and draw two cards." Astraea smirked, "And summon my Axe Dragonute." The black dragonlike knight appeared on the field, wings flaring, pointing his axe at the imprisoned Celeste. "Your move." The sneer was obvious, Astraea had drawn something good, and Celeste knew it, since she hesitated to draw.

"Don't give up!" Fleur cheered from the sidelines.

Celeste drew, "I set a card in defence mode and end my turn."

Astraea drew, "I sacrifice my Dragonute for the King of the Underworld. Lich Lord, come forth!" She demanded, throwing a hand forward. She couldn't help it, getting carried away. Yami had been right; playing in a tournament situation was about a million times more fun then just practise battles, she could see why he loved them

Her lich, a zombie like creature wearing a cloak and crown, with armour in some places and black, damaged wings, appeared, with a sinister smile, staff in hand.

"My Lich has 2400 hundred attack points, but only 1200 defence points." Astraea sighed, "Not that it matters, I wouldn't switch him into defence mode anyway… I end my turn, but in two turns, my Lich will wipe you out."

"Not possible!" Celeste glared, "I set a card in defence mode and end my turn."

The Nightmare Steelcage disappeared, and Celeste continued to glare.

Astraea was unworried. "I too set a card in defence mode, and then Lich Lord, destroy her left face down card."

It exploded, revealing a siren for a moment, before it vanished. "It's over, I end my turn."

"You can't win, I play Monster Reborn to summon my Space Mambo back to the field," The alien space ship fish thing reappeared. "And I sacrifice it and my face down Mermaid Knight to summon my Levia-Dragon – Daedalus to the field, in attack mode and play A Legendary Ocean." The blue sea serpent/effect monster appeared, proclaiming his strength, as the dungeon was flooded with water, making half the people there scream and back away. Some people didn't move though, they'd seen field cards that could create fields, forests, even cities, "Attack her King." The way Celeste said King made it sound rude. The Lich exploded, taking Astraea down to 800 life points. "I end my turn. Now what are you going to do?"

"My Lich goes to my hand instead of the graveyard, you can't kill him that easily, and with my face down card on the field I can bring him back."

"He's still no match for Daedalus."

"Ah but you've made him powerful enough, I sacrifice Plague Wolf for Lich Lord and equip him with Megamorph." The Lich grew to twice the size, the gem on his staff glowing, "Now if I'd have equipped that to him last turn, it would have halved his attack points," Astraea explained, "But since you knocked my life points down below yours, it now has the opposite effect. He's now forty eight hundred instead of twenty four."

Celeste didn't look amused.

"You lose. King of the Underworld, send Daedalus to your realm! Attack!" The Lich attacked, the Sea Serpent exploded and Celeste's points hit zero. "I win."

Celeste shook her hand begrudgingly as the Slytherins cheered, the Beuxbatons students clapped politely and Astraea ignored those among the crowd who had hoped she would lose. She sought Yami out.

"I told you that you'd win easily."

* * *

"You can't win!" Kiril laughed as he summoned his huge Beat of Talwar. It was a level six fiend, with 2400 hundred attack points and two huge swords. "Beast of Talwar, destroy her Dark Valkyria!"

"I don't think so!" Ombre snapped, "Waboku!"

The attack was negated, Ombre's life points stayed safe, and Dark Valkyria just stared at the enemy. At just 300 life points apiece left,

"Sheer luck, I'll beat you next turn."

"I don't think so." Ombre growled, drawing. "I activate Dark Valkyria's ability, resummoning her to give her 300 extra points."

"That's only twenty one hundred, that's not enough!"

"I know, but after I equip her with the Sword of dark Rites, she's strong enough at 2500."

"You can't win though, I'd still have one hundred points left."

"Which is why I summon Apprentice Magician in attack mode." Ombre snorted, "And thanks to that Royal Decree I played earlier, you can't use traps to counter my attacks, so…" She grinned, "Dark Valkyria, attack his fiend!" The fiend exploded, taking a chunk of Kiril's life points with it. "Now, Apprentice Magician, finish this!"

Kiril swore loudly in Bulgarian as his points hit zero, and it was be grudgingly that he shook hands with Ombre, who looked around, only to find Ryou had already finished his match and was waiting with Kari.

"Nice one Ombre!" Kari grinned.

"Any idea how everyone else is doing?"

"I know Joey's around here somewhere," Kari looked around, "Or he might have headed outside, he won his match, as did Seto, I think the others are still going."

"Let's go watch then."

* * *

Astraea didn't react to Yami's comment, "I thought you'd be with your friends."

"I am." Yami shrugged, making Astraea snort, "Yugi…" He stopped.

"You might as well continue, everyone knows about the mind links to Potter and Yugi."

"Yugi says that Joey defeated his opponent easily…"

"For all of Wheeler's joking, I fail to be surprised, given who his teachers are."

Yami laughed, "You grace us with far too much, Joey's a very skilled player."

"He wouldn't have been had you and your Grandfather not taught him everything he knows."

"But not everything we know." Yami half agreed, "Experience increases skill too."

"True, and this is certainly experience." Astraea nodded, well aware that Yami hadn't taught her everything that he knew, she wanted him to, but had already worked out that Yugi and Yami had something, she wasn't sure what, that even the most skilled players could never match. "What about Potter?"

"Harry's watching the match between Luna and Hermione, Seto defeated his opponent easily and Rebecca's about a turn and a half away."

"How could Potter know that?"

"Harry has seen into the minds of both me and Yugi, he's still got a lot of experience to pick up of his own, but he has most of our knowledge of Duel Monsters." Yami explained, "He can tell."

"Explain?"

Yami hesitated. As much as Astraea already knew, there was so much more that he couldn't tell her because he didn't know how far he could trust her.

"As much as you can?"

"What do you already know about the links?"

"It's how you know when Yugi's in trouble and how you can get away with talking to each other in class without getting into trouble. It's also what binds you and Yugi together and somehow Potter became trapped in it."

"We didn't trap Harry, it wasn't something we did deliberately. I did something we shouldn't have been able to do had someone not been playing with Harry's mind and he was so low on magic that his latched onto mine, which of course is half Yugi's." Yami explained, wanting that cleared up, "So he ended up linked to us. We didn't force it on him, we wouldn't do so to anyone. It's too dangerous."

"Dangerous how?"

"Never mind." Yami really didn't want to talk about it much further.

Astraea considered everything she had been allowed to know so far. The whole castle knew how protective Yami was of Yugi, and had been becoming of Harry since the incident a week into term, was this because of the link?

Astraea had to pause to let her eyes adjust to the bright sunlight and Yami paused to wait for her, though she could still see the thought process going on. Astraea had seen him like this before, and wondered if his friends had too.

She had this strange feeling that they hadn't, that around them Yami kept his fears secret, his pain hidden much better…

He had to be strong, and he did act strong around her, but there was a huge difference, she had seen it. Oh it wasn't like he wasn't relaxed around the others in a way he could never be when it was just him and her, she knew that while Yami respected her and trusted her enough that he'd left her alone with Yugi a couple of times, there was still that wariness that no one seemed to be able to break….

It was as if showing any weakness around Yugi and the others was unforgivable and she wondered if they knew that… maybe she should speak to Yugi…

Astraea nearly stopped walking as she realised where the train of thoughts was leading her. This was ridiculous. She was a Pure Blood, she had a duty and here she was, worrying about a fourth year Gryffindor as if he was the most important thing in the world to her.

What was she thinking?

She shook her head but didn't say anything, allowing Yami the time to gather his thoughts, walking in silence until they reached the arena where Hermione Granger was playing Luna Lovegood.

In theory she would have thought that Granger would have the advantage, being older, Muggle Born and having been friends with Yami for so long, but when they got there, Yami frowned as he took in the state of the duel.

"Harry?" He asked, "Luna's in the lead isn't she?"

"Only just, it's a good game." Harry nodded, "But…"

* * *

Hermione was hesitating. Luna was holding Hermione's Millennium Witch hostage with her Allure Queen Lv7, who Luna called Arzu, and she didn't want to destroy it.

It was the best card in her deck, at 2900/2100 and with the ability to increase one Spellcaster's attack or defence by 1500 once per turn.

Hermione had already used it once, on her Breaker the Magical Warrior, so Breaker had 3100 attack points and this meant that she could use it to destroy the Allure Queen, which only had 1500 attack points, but it would take her Millennium Witch out instead.

"You can't win while defending, Hermione." Luna said dreamily.

Hermione hesitated further, having played her friends often enough to be sure that Luna was baiting her, especially since she had a face down card… and yet… this was Luna… Luna didn't bluff people, she told the truth as she saw it…

"Breaker, attack Allure Queen!"

The brown haired woman in a Oriental style purple and gold short dress, with flames floating around her head and a great golden staff in one hand, laughed, and waved her staff.

Heavily, as if fighting it, Millennium Witch got between the attack and the Queen.

And screamed as the attack hit her, exploding.

Luna's points stayed exactly where they were, at 950.

Hermione growled, "A card face down and that's it."

She had to get through that queen!

Luna smiled, drawing a card, "I hate to do this to you Hermione."

"What?"

"I play Monster Reborn on Millennium Witch." Hermione's Millennium Witch reappeared, but she looked sad, "I'm sorry Alyth, I won't ask you to attack your partner, but I need your effect." Luna told the Duel Monster. "Allure Queen, capture her Breaker!"

Allure Queen waved her staff and Breaker, unwillingly, joined Luna's side, sitting, or rather, kneeling at the Queen's side. "Alyth, use your effect to boost Arzu's power!"

Millennium Witch waved her hand and Allure Queen glowed with a bright white light, her attack points doubling.

"Arzu, attack Hermione directly!" Allure Queen levelled her staff at Hermione and a bright beam of energy shot out of it.

"I activate Mystical Seal!" Hermione called, the purple seal appeared underneath "Which stops your Allure Queen in her tracks and negates the attack."

"Sorry Hermione, but I activate Dust Tornado." Hermione's seal vanished in a whirlwind and the attack broke through. 3000 points of direct damage struck Hermione in the chest and she fell over backwards, picking herself up as her points shot downwards, finally hitting zero.

"Thank you Arzu, thank you Alyth." Luna nodded to both of the monsters as they faded from view.

"Wow Luna!" Harry grinned as the cheering died down.

Yami frowned, "Luna?" He asked, as they tried to work out which Duel to head to next, "How did you know the name of those Duel Monsters?"

"I could hear them, and they told me." Luna smiled, "I picked cards that I could hear to go in my deck, and Alyth was trying to talk to Hermione all duel."

"She was?" Hermione asked quietly. "I couldn't hear her."

"I know, I'll pass messages on for you, if you like." Luna nodded, "You really should pay attention to your decks, all of you, they have the most interesting things to say, though…" She turned and pointed at Yami, "You have forgotten how to hear them!"

"What?" Yami yelped.

"Your cards try and talk to you all the time, but it makes them sad that you've forgotten how to hear them."

"I…" Yami's hand went to his deck pouch, "I've forgotten how to hear them…?"

"You've forgotten a lot of things, but don't worry, you'll remember soon."


	17. Now I Shall Make Things Disappear

It was the end of May, the Bloodline potion was bubbling away happily, just a couple of weeks from completion, and what little time they had that wasn't looking up and learning new spells was spent doing homework or training or Duelling.

The last one had been pretty constant since Luna had said that she could hear the Duel Monsters and that the others should listen to them more often. They were up to the quarter finals now, which were in fact being held this Saturday, 'Joey vs Luna' and 'Bakura vs Rebecca' in one half of the bracket, and 'Seto vs Adelle' and 'Astraea vs Ombre' in the other, then the semis were in two weeks time, while the finals would be held just before the Third Task.

There had been an announcement at Breakfast, that all the Champions were to head to the Quidditch Pitch at nine o'clock and Kari and Harry had been unhappy about walking down after dark, but had gone, drawing their wands and using Lumos so they didn't trip over.

"This is insane," Kari sighed, "I guess we know where the last task is being held though."

"And the others know where to start patrolling." Harry nodded. "Do you think that we can interfere enough to stop it happening?"

"Truthfully?" Kari asked and Harry nodded, "I hope so, but nothing is certain, even the future can be changed, just because one path is seen, doesn't mean there aren't about a million others, it's just that in the right hands the Necklace is normally accurate." _And I don't think Robyn was wrong once._ "So we just have to be careful."

Harry nodded as they reached the Quidditch Pitch. "What have they done?"

Kari knelt down next to the small, crisscrossing walls, "Yugi's going to throw a fit when he realises that they're growing hedges here, I thought that they'd magically conjure walls or something."

"Ah Miss Ironhide, Mr Potter," Mr Bagman, the Head of Magical Games and Sports for the English Ministry of Magic, sounded rather overenthusiastic as they climbed over the hedges to get to him and Vicktor Krum, "We're just waiting for Miss Delacour and then I'll explain. They'll be twenty foot high this time next month!"

Harry grimaced, imagine trying to find the Snitch in a maze that was twenty foot tall.

"Oh don't worry, the pitch will be put back to rights after the task, you needn't worry about that." Bagman laughed, waving over Fleur. Once she was stood next to them he started talking again, "Right then, can any of you guess what we're growing here?"

"Maze." Krum said shortly.

"That's right, the last task is on the 24th of June and is really very easy, you just have to make your way to the centre of the maze."

Kari and Harry, who had been preparing for this for the last couple of months attempted to look surprised.

"So all we have to do is get through the maze and touch the cup?" Fleur asked.

"Oh, there will be obstacles." Bagman once again sounded way too happy about that, "Hagrid is providing creatures and there will be spells to avoid and defuse, but yes, the first one to touch the cup wins."

"Do we all go in at once?" Harry asked.

"No, as the Champions with the highest points, Miss Ironhide and Mr Potter will enter first, followed by Mr Krum and finally Miss Delacour. However, you will all be in with a fighting chance depending on how well you get past the obstacles. It'll be fun."

Harry and Kari looked at each other, knowing exactly what kind of creatures Hagrid was likely to provide, fun wasn't the word that they would use.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Mr Bagman asked. Everyone shook their heads. "In that case, it's quite chilly, shall we head up to the castle?"

Harry and Kari turned to leave, but Krum put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Can I haff a word?"

"Sure." Harry nodded.

"Do you mind if I come?"

Krum looked very much like he did mind.

"I'll hang back, where I can't hear you, but we tend to walk around in pairs since the Second Task, sorry."

Krum growled and shrugged, "Herrmy-own-ninny said something similar when I asked why Ombre follows you and Hermy-own-ninny around."

They headed towards Hagrid's hut for a while, passed that, went along past the Beuxbaton's carriage to the quiet stretch of ground just past the paddock where the flying horses were being kept where they trained most mornings, then Kari hung back, close enough to keep an eye on things, while being far enough back to avoid hearing the conversation.

Krum turned to Harry on they were in the shade of the trees, fixing him with a hard stare that made Harry wonder what he was supposed to have done. "I vant to know," He glowered, "Vot there is between you and Hermy-own-ninny?"

"Nothing!" Harry answered easily, "She's my Clan Sister, that's all."

"Vot is a Clan Sister?"

"We're members of Clan Domino," Harry answered easily, having suspected something other then this from the ever serious Vicktor Krum, "Founding members in fact, it makes us like brothers and sisters, even if we aren't related. But I'm not dating Hermione, in fact I'm currently seeing Luna Lovegood."

"You haff not…"

"I've never dated Hermione, or Kari for that matter." Harry said, figuring out where this had come from, "That was Rita Skeeter making stuff up. I think Seto Kaiba had something to say about that too."

Krum looked a little easier and stared at Harry for a moment, then, "You fly very well, I vos votching the first task."

Harry had to fight off a grin and just knew that Yugi and Yami would probably sense his elation that the praise from an international Quidditch Player gave him, "You're a great flyer too, I saw you at the Quidditch World Cup. Yugi and I have been dying to attempt that Wronski Feint."

"Maybe I could show you how?" Krum asked, amused.

"We'd have to try to get the Quidditch Pitch again," Harry said, thinking of the flying session the Clan had had, after talking Madam Hooch into overseeing a 'practise' session to keep their skills up, "But I bet Seto could…"

Harry cut off and drew his wand as something moved in the forest, having had experience with things from the forest before, moving between Krum and the forest.

"Vot is it?" Krum asked as Kari rushed forward.

A man staggered out of the forest. He looked ill, his robes were ripped and bloody and it looked like he hadn't washed his hair in days. This, however, was nothing compared to how he was talking.

"Mr Crouch?" Kari asked, rushing past Harry wand still drawn. _"Ombre? Can you come here?"_

Crouch? Harry wondered exactly what had happened to him to be in this state, as Kari attempted to get some sense out of the older Wizard, who seemed to be convinced that they were in his office and that he was talking not to a woman, but in fact to Percy Weasley, a fact they only gathered because he was talking to Weatherby and the twins had been talking about winding Percy about it for the last few weeks, since Percy had sent a rather snotty letter to the twins on their birthday.

' _On my way hikari.'_

"Mr Crouch, do you need to…eep!" Kari squeaked as Mr Crouch grabbed her by the shoulders. "Petrificus…"

"NO!" Couch growled, tossing her aside, "Dumbledore, I need to speak to Dumbledore!"

Harry rushed forward, Krum just behind as Kari glared at the man and picked herself up. "Come with us and we'll take you to see him." She said, as she picked up her wand.

"Who are you?" Crouch asked, gesticulating wildly and looking at them like he thought they would attack him.

"Students, at the school."

"Not his?"

"His?" Harry asked.

"You're not with…" Crouch looked around and whispered, "You-Know-Who?"

"Never."

"Dumbledore's?"

"Working against Voldemort." Kari nodded, working out that he was talking about sides, and while they would never be on Moldyshort's side, they couldn't completely say that they were with Dumbledore either after the revelations of earlier in the year.

"Warn…Dumbledore. Bertha dead… my fault… the Dark Lord… stronger… Harry Potter…"

"We'll go and get him." Kari promised and turned to Harry. "Harry, can you go and get the Headmaster, I'll stay here." Harry nodded and shot off, "Vicktor, can you…"

Something hit Krum, and she was just turning to fight it when the same something hit her… the ground came to meet her and then she knew nothing else.

* * *

"I don't know what happened." Kari kicked a table, as they gathered in the Common Room, "I sent Harry off and the something tagged both me and Krum from behind, and I know it wasn't Crouch, he was stood to my left, I would have seen him!" Kari growled, "I can't believe he didn't believe me either! Gah!"

"What I want to know is how Crouch got away if he was as badly off as you said he was, if he was that determined to talk to Dumbledore, wouldn't he have headed towards the castle?"

"Dunno. You said that Professor Moody said that he couldn't see anyone around?" Yugi asked thoughtfully.

"Uh huh. I might have gotten back in time if Snape hadn't held me up." Harry complained.

"I doubt it, Kari called me the moment that Crouch came out of the trees and I didn't see who attacked them, so I doubt being a bit faster would have helped." Ombre shook her head. "I wonder if this means they'll hold off on the last task, so they can find him…"

"It's on the 24th." Harry said, "They can't push it much further back then that, because term will end."

"And it has to be completed…" Yami sighed. "So is it the maze?"

"Uh huh, they've dug up the Quidditch Pitch to put in walls of hedges…"

"What?" Yugi complained, "But…"

"Mr Bagman said that they would fix it afterwards." Kari shrugged, "There will be obstacles in it."

"Creatures and magic, right?" Joey nodded.

"Other then the Crouch problem, nothing we weren't expecting then." Yami growled, "Where could he have gone?"

"I don't know and it's not our problem." Ombre said firmly. "We have more important things to worry about, like making sure that we stay on guard now and try to make sure that Harry and Kari can get through the maze safely."

"And we start investigating the maze if we can." Yami nodded, "If we can get Moody investigating, he might notice the Cup's a portkey before it can be used to drag the winner away."

"But…"

"We can have a look around, but if Moody couldn't find anyone with that eye of his, I don't know how much more luck we'll have…"

* * *

When Harry returned to the Gryffindor Tower after class the next day, he found Yugi sat at a table, glaring at something on it. "Yuge?"

"Nothing for four years," Yugi complained, as Harry walked over to find that the thing he was glaring at was the Millennium Necklace, "And then three within seven months of each other."

"Three?"

"Touched it by accident during Arithmancy." Yugi sighed.

"What was it then?"

"The maze, again." Yugi sighed, "And this time it was something about Professor Moody, but it wasn't very clear. I think it was back, not forward though, since I remember Mr Weasley mentioning something about exploding garbage cans back at the end of the Summer, when we were staying with him."

Harry thought back for a moment, Mr Weasley had mentioned something like that… then… "I thought the Necklace saw the future, not the past."

"It does both." Yugi sighed, "And we've obviously missed something if it's doing it without someone telling it to."

"Couldn't you ask Isuzu about it?" Harry asked as Yugi swiped the Necklace into his backpack and pulled out his text books. "She was the one who had it last, right?"

"Uh huh. I was planning to when I sent the letter off about this summer." Yugi said, "I need Yami to look at it before I send it though." He snorted as Harry pulled out a book on shield spells, "I would say that I envy you for not having any end of year exams, but I think the girls are piling enough homework on you anyway."

Harry laughed, "I'd rather have the exams thanks."

"I bet." Yugi nodded, comparing something in his Divination notes to his text book and rereading the paragraph, before scribbling out something in his notes and copying the new thing down. "I think half of what Professor Trelawny says is rubbish." Yugi said with a frown, "The notes I took don't match up with what the book is saying in many places at all."

"Trelawny is a fraud." Hermione said, having overheard and dumping her pile of books on the table, "But Divination itself is fascinating."

"So you gave it up because…?"

"Because she couldn't read a prophecy right if you handed the meaning to her on a silver platter." Hermione said, digging through the pile until she found her Arithmancy notes, "Yugi, did you get this part alright?" She asked, showing him her page of equations.

Yugi dug through his bag for his parchment and book from that class and compared them to Hermione's. Harry got bored rather quickly as they talked it through, though he was surprised at just how much he had forgotten of maths since he had left the Muggle World.

"What're they up to?" Joey asked, sitting down with his potions textbook.

"Maths."

"Yuck." Joey pulled a face and buried himself in his potions homework.

"You ready for tomorrow?" Hermione asked without looking up from her overly complex equations.

"As I can be." Joey frowned, "Luna's surprisingly good at Duel Monsters."

"Well she is friends with Mokuba."

"I know but…" Joey shrugged, not sure how to explain, "She's just really, really good. I mean you and Harry have a reason, Kari's a good teacher and Harry has Yugi and Yami's memories."

"Don't be mean." Yugi chided.

"No, it's true." Harry shook his head, "I have improved since I got linked to you guys."

"Awww," Hermione grinned suddenly, "Joey's scared."

"Am not!"

"Well you said that you were hoping to be booted out of the Tournament before you had to fight Bakura."

"I said she was good, I didn't say she was going to win."

"I can't wait to watch."

"I'm not going to be there, I'm going to watch the Rebecca verses Bakura match." Yugi frowned, "I'm hoping that Bakura will keep up his behaviour, he hasn't Shadow Gamed anyone yet, but I want to be on hand just in case." _"Not that there's much I can do if he starts one, we're unable to interfere without severe consequences."_

 _`Becca will be fine.`_ Harry sent, catching Yugi's thought and his amused glance, _`Besides why would Bakura Game Becca? She may be his opponent in the Tournament, but she doesn't have anything he wants.`_

' _I'd be more worried if it was Joey or Seto fighting him.'_ Yami joined in the conversation from down in the library, _'I think Becs should be able to take him, but we don't know what his deck is like now, he seems to change it after every match.'_

" _We'll see."_

"Uh guys, it's rude to talk about us when we can't hear you." Joey pointed out.

"Sorry Joey, we were having a three way discussion about the Becca verses Bakura match." Yugi looked bashful. "Yami seems pretty sure that Becs can take Bakura."

"Of course she can, she's not America's top Duellist for nothing." Joey snorted. "Bakura doesn't stand a chance."

Yugi shrugged, "I guess you're right."

"Guess nothing." Joey protested, "Everyone who thinks that Bakura's going to lose to Becs say aye!"

"Aye." Joey, Hermione and Harry said at the same time and after a moment Yugi smiled slightly.

"Aye."

"See, no problem." Joey grinned. If only he was as confident about his own match.

"The Weasley twins are taking bets." Hermione said, smiling slightly as she finished a particularly difficult sum, "The smart money's on a Joey verses Seto final, with…" Hermione trailed off.

"Seto to win, right?" Joey sighed.

"You know?"

"I can guess."

"You could beat Seto."

"I haven't beaten Rich-boy once in seven years…"

"That doesn't mean anything." Yugi shook his head, "I bet you could this time. Just look over your deck and practise. Seto's just as rusty as you are, if not worse, he's been out of the competitive circuit longer."

"I'd worry about it when it gets to that point." Hermione advised, "You've got to get past Luna and either Becs or Bakura first."

" _Please let is be Becs, please let it be Becs…"_ Joey thought silently. "This summer we need to get back into the Tournament Circuit." Joey told Yugi, "We're out of practise and we know each other's decks too well for Duelling each other to be good practise anymore."

"I know." Yugi nodded. "But the others are progressing well, and…" Yugi sighed, "I wish I'd entered now…"

"You could try using Polyjuice to play against Luna if you like."

"One, I don't have time to make it and two, that's called cheating."

"Joey IS scared of Luna!" Hermione laughed.

"Am not!" Joey protested again, "I just thought I'd give Yugi the chance to decline the offer."

"And I'm declining." Yugi said firmly. "Besides, where would we get the ingredients without breaking into Snape's storage? We can't exactly order the stuff from where Kari normally gets her stuff. Besides, it would be too suspicious if your play style changed drastically for the last few matches."

"Yugi!" Hermione groaned, "Please tell me that you're not trying to convince yourself this is a bad idea, because it is, but you don't sound sure."

"I do think it's a bad idea, I'm just…"

"Bored." Harry supplied.

"The person I really want to duel against is Mai Valentine." Yugi said, leaning back and thinking about it, "She's a fantastic Duellist, an honourable one too. She'd be a challenge…"

"And I'm not?" Joey half-pretended to be insulted.

"Of course you are, but I know your deck inside out, back to front and upside down, where as I haven't Duelled Mai in years."

Hermione giggled, making the others look at her, "Who would have thought that you could get withdrawal symptoms from a lack of challenging Duels?"

"I wouldn't say that around Seto." Yugi warned.

"I wouldn't say that around Yami either!" Harry laughed.

"Of course not, I like living!" Hermione protested.

"Yami wouldn't kill you." Yugi mock-glared, "He doesn't kill allies and friends."

"He would if I told him that you didn't think that he was a challenge anymore."

"Na, he understands." Yugi sighed, "It's something we've discussed before, there's just something that is tugging at us, and it only seems to stop while we're duelling and the longer and more challenging a duel it is, the longer the tugging stops for. I don't know why, but it's like we're not allowed to let our Duelling Skills get too slack."

There was silence for a while, while they processed this. Hermione had one idea. That it was either their magic keeping them fighting, or fate had something planned for them still that their Duelling Skills were incredibly important for, but she couldn't see what. What could be so important that fate would tug on them until they played to make sure that they didn't get rusty?

"But you and Harry are real challenges now," Yugi started talking again, "And I'm defiantly going to challenge Luna soon… so…" He shrugged, "And that's not the right answer…" He scribbled out the number he'd put down and wrote the right one, sighing as he did so.

"So it's not just a case of boredom then?" Joey asked.

Yugi shook his head. "It's like going stir crazy… but for Duelling… I think." Yugi said, then realised exactly what he had said, "And that sounds crazy."

"We already knew you were crazy," Joey reassured him, "But that's alright, because we're crazy too."

"Ha ha." Yugi sounded surprisingly sarcastic.

"So, we need to find you and Yami the biggest Duel Monsters Tournament ever, and stick you right in the middle of it." Hermione nodded, "I'll get Kari to start looking."

"Why not just ask Seto to set one up?"

"Because if Seto sets one up, something insane will happen." Joey groaned, "The same goes for Industrial Illusions."

"Uh Joey," Harry tried not to laugh, "Don't insane things normally follow you guys around."

"You're not much better Mister!"

"Now you sound like Rebec…eep!" Harry had to flee as Joey attempted to noogie him.

"So Joey's never going to grow up, is he?" Hermione asked.

"Probably not." Yugi laughed, "But I don't care, Joey's fine the way he is."

"He wouldn't be Joey if he wasn't a little insane." Hermione agreed as Harry fled back past and would have escaped out of the portrait hole had he not gone crashing in Yami, ending up with both of them on their rears looking rather dazed.

This, of course, caused those who had seen what happened to laugh, as Joey helped Yami to his feet, giving Harry a chance escape.

"Is there a reason you're attempting to noogie Harry?"

"Well…"

* * *

"Blue Eyes!" Kaiba called, White Lightening!"

His Blue Eyes White Dragon attacked, wiping out Adelle's Spirit of the Breeze.

The 0 attack, 1200 defence Duel Monster had been causing him trouble for a few turns, since Adelle had equipped it with Mage Power, Horn of the Unicorn and Sword of Deep-Seated, giving it an attack of 3700 points, since she'd had five magic and trap cards down, if you included the two face down cards that could have been anything, Seto had had no idea.

It hadn't been until he'd managed to summon one of his Blue Eyes by attributing Kaiser Seahorse and another with Monster Reborn that Seto had finally managed to weaken it by using his A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, destroying all of her magic and trap cards by returning one of them to his hand and destroy the damn creature.

This would have finished the game off normally, but Spirit of the Breeze had a special effect that increased her Duellist's life points by 1000 every time the controlling Duellist drew a card.

Kaiba's sources hadn't been wrong, talent spotters, who watched Tournaments around the world and reported back to Kaiba Corp had spotted a few up and coming Duellists in Europe that he had been considering inviting to the Kaiba Corp Tournaments he was planning over the summer, and sixteen year old Adelle Rousseau had been on that list.

Deservedly it looked like.

Adelle still had 7400 lifepoints while Seto only had 1200.

"And that ends my turn."

Adelle was less then amused. Almost all of her equip cards had been destroyed in that last attack, along with both of her Sakuretsu Armor. She'd been warned that he was good, but she had thought that she had stacked her deck in a way that would defeat him.

She drew, "I play a card face down and summon Boot-Up Soldier – Dread Dynamo, in attack mode." It appeared on the field, in attack mode, a browny metallic looking creature.

"And why should I be afraid of that, it's no match for Blue Eyes, it has no attack points either."

"You'll see. Your turn, Kaiba."

Seto drew, "I summon Lord of D." He called, "And flip my Flute of Summoning Dragon." One of Seto's face down cards flipped up, revealing the flute, "Allowing me to summon the two Blue Eyes White Dragons I have in my hand."

The two appeared on the field, roaring.

"And I activate Polymerisation, fusing my three dragons together to form the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon." The three dragons came together to become the huge three headed terror, with 4500 attack points. "I'll destroy your monster and then win this. Blue Eyes! Attack her Dread Dynamo! Nova Blast!"

The Blue Eyes attacked, but Adelle's Dread Dynamo didn't die in the blast.

"You forgot my face down card!" Adelle laughed, as the crowd murmured, "Waboku. It negates your attack and protects me from harm."

"I know what it does." Seto glowered, "I end my turn."

Adelle drew, "I summon my Ancient Gear." The odd metallic gear like creature appeared on the field, with just 100 attack points. Next to Kaiba's dragons it looked pretty pathetic. "And because I have one on the field, I can summon the other two from my hand this turn." Two more little gear creatures appeared on the field.

"I'm not afraid of them, they're no match for my dragon."

"No, but I can sacrifice one of them to use with my Enemy Controller." Adelle grinned, "I tribute an Ancient Gear to take control of your Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Kaiba's eyes widened, as the implications sank in as Blue Eyes switched sides.

"Blue Eyes, destroy his Lord of D!"

The Dragon blasted the lord who exploded when the energy wave hit him.

Seto's points hit zero.

* * *

Yugi broke.

Rebecca, who was keeping half an eye on her friend, but the majority of her concentration on Bakura, turned to look at him.

Hermione poked the Heir, who looked stunned, "What?"

"Seto just lost." Yugi sounded incredulous.

"What?" Rebecca yelped.

"Harry says that Seto lost..." Yugi said, still sounding stunned.

Bakura looked incredibly amused. "It's still your turn Hawkins." Bakura snorted.

Rebecca just stared at him for a minute, before shaking her head and turning back to the duel, she was currently sat behind her Millennium Shield, which was equipped with a Ring of Magnetism, decreasing it's defence by 500 since it's attack couldn't go lower then zero, to 2500, in combination with Gravity Bind, which only allowed monsters with a level of three or less to attack.

This was fine for her, because she was annoying Bakura something rotten with a combination of her Marie the Fallen One, who was in the graveyard and increasing Rebecca's life points by 200, while her Fire Princess, who was in defence mode… just in case… used it's effect to decrease 500 points from Bakura's total every time Marie boosted Rebecca's.

She just needed three more turns…

If he did somehow manage to destroy her Millennium Shield, she did have Luster Dragon #2 in the Graveyard and Monster Reborn and Adamantine Sword Revival in her hand.

"I pass." Rebeeca called.

Bakura glowered, ticked off at the girl's waiting game, well aware that he was down to 1500 and only had three turns left.

He drew… and smirked, "I play a card face down and activate Card Destruction, meaning that we both have to…"

"Send our hands to the graveyard and redraw the same number, I know." Rebecca glared, as she did so.

"I then remove The Portrait's Secret, Jowgen the Spiritualist and Goblin Zombie to summon my Dark Necrofear," Bakura continued, "And play Spiritualistic Medium, selecting my Dark Necrofear."

His Dark Necrofear grew by 1500, taking it up to 3700.

"It can't attack though, because of my Gravity Bind."

"True, but what if I did this?" Bakura asked, activating the face down card he'd placed during his previous turn, "Spiritualism returns one magic or trap card to your hand, and I choose your Gravity Bind."

Rebecca squeaked as ghost rushed straight at her and the card flew out of the Duel Disk of its own accord.

"And I think that I'll end this." Bakura said, as if he was talking to himself, "By activating Negate Defence."

You couldn't really tell when he forced the Millennium Shield into attack mode, but everyone who knew the game, knew how much trouble Rebecca was in, "Dark Necrofear, destroy the shield and win the game!"

The Duel Monster threw a sphere of purple at the shield, exploding when it hit, and as a result Rebecca was thrown backwards, hitting the floor at the same time her life points hit zero.

Then Bakura turned to Yugi, who was watching warily, wondering if Bakura would try something… "Kaiba really lost?"

"Yes…"

* * *

"Is it me, or can you hear Bakura laughing?" Luna asked Joey who was a little busy wondering exactly who he was going to get around her Dulauren, Tiger King of the Ice Boundary, which was prowling in front Luna's other monsters.

This he might have been able to handle had his Red Eyes Black Dragon not been taken by Luna's Allure Queen, which he's been unable to attack because of her 'Queen's Bodyguard' who now resided in the Graveyard.

Joey drew, frowned, double checked his hand and the field, where he had two face down cards and one in face down defence mode, and then grinned, "I activate Red-Eyes Transmigration!"

The Red Eyes Black Dragon equipped to Allure Queen disappeared, and Joey sent a warrior monster to his graveyard and grinned as the armour formed around him, turning him into a winged knight with black armour that looked like segments from a Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Luna looked fascinated, "I always thought that you'd make a good knight, Joey, but that armour is fantastic… one question… what will happen when I equip **you** to Arzu?"

"Not going to happen." Joey shook his head, "I'm attacking her."

He did so, and she exploded. Joey grinned as he returned to his side of the field, suddenly the ice tiger didn't seem quite as scary. "Your move Luna."

Luna looked like she wanted to ask about a million questions as she drew, summoning her Practitioner of the Ice Boundary in defence mode, "Your armour's not much good for attacking now Joey, neither your or Dulauren can attack while there's another Ice Boundary card on the field other then Petar, but that's all I can do so I end my turn."

Joey frowned as he drew, "He can't keep you safe Luna, I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight, in attack mode." It stood at his side, with 1800 attack points, "Sorry Luna, but… Gearfried, attack her Practitioner!"

The Ice Boundary monster exploded, but Luna didn't look overly bothered, making Joey frown, "And I'm attacking your tiger."

"I activate Scapegoat!" Luna called.

Joey, who was midway through an attack, wasn't quite sure what happened except half a moment later, he found himself on his rear, down by 100 life points, armourless and rather confused. "Uh what just…?"

"I activated Scapegoat so it was face up and then quickly activated Dulauren's ability to gain 500 points when I return any face up card to my hand, your armour was only 2400, Dulauren is 2500 until the end of the turn, so you lost."

"Oh." Joey nodded, understanding as he picked himself up, checking his life point counter, which stood at 1300.

"That looked fun though."

"It was." Joey agreed, remembering the Duel against Bakura right back during Duellist Kingdom when he'd said that he used to pretend it was him on the field trading blows with the enemy monsters… all right, it was a little sad, actually becoming a Duel Monster until you were attacked by something stronger, but it was exhilarating too… He noted his face down card, "I end my turn Luna."

"I summon Blizzd – Guard of the Ice Boundary and play a card face down." Joey watched as Blizzd, a blue bird that kind of reminded him of Fawkes, with blue armour, settled on Luna's shoulder, "Dulauren, attack Gearfried please."

The tiger roared and launched himself across the field.

"Magical Arm Shield!" Joey yelped, activating it just in time. The shield snatched the gorgeous blue bird off of Luna's shoulder and put it right in front of Dulauren's attack.

"That hurt!" Luna complained, as her points dropped by 1700, to 300, wincing and rotating her shoulder.

"Sorry Luna." Joey apologised quickly, "I didn't mean to…"

"I know, I know, you just don't always think before you do things that might hurt your friends… I guess I end my turn."

Now what was that supposed to mean?

Joey drew, "I play Release Restraint." The armour fell away from his Gearfried the Iron Knight to reveal a rather tough looking warrior. "Gearfried the Swordmaster, attack her Dulauren!"

"I activate Scapegoat…" Luna called again, this time it wasn't enough, but she only lost a hundred life points.

"That ends my turn Luna."

"Okay." Luna nodded, "This time I play Scapegoat." The four sheep tokens appeared on the field, bobbing up and down in front of her, "And I guess that is it."

Joey nodded, drawing, "Monster Reborn, to summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon back to the field." The dragon reappeared, glancing at Joey who nodded and grinned back at it. Only then did it let out a triumphant roar.

"You don't need to hear your Red Eyes." Luna looked amused, "You know what's he's saying anyway."

"Red Eyes means a lot to me." Joey said, gazing at the dragon. _You've helped save both my life and Yugi's before… I wouldn't let go of you for a million pounds…_

Red Eyes, who was staring back at him, roared and looked at the sheep. "Go ahead, if you're hungry." Joey nodded, "Red Eyes, attack! You too Gearfried!"

Two of Luna's sheep exploded.

"Your move."

Luna hesitated as she drew, "I play Monster Reborn on my Trap Eater, and use it and my two Scapegoat to Synchro Summon my Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Boundary!"

Brionac was huge, there was no other way to describe it at first, until Joey realised that the dragon itself was, in fact, living ice, it was beautiful… but… "Luna, Brionac's only got 2300 attack points." Joey frowned, as the attack and defence points were projected by the holoemitters.

"I only have one card left in my hand to use his special ability." Luna explained, "Which allows me to discard this one card in order to return one card on the field to your hand. If I had more, I could return more, but as it is… I discard this card to return your Gearfried the Swordmaster to your hand!"

The 2600 light warrior returned to Joey's hand, leaving Red Eyes on the field alone, dwarfed by the icy Sea Serpent monster. "Your move Joey."

Joey drew. "Luna, I want to apologise in advance for this." Joey said, "But I'm going to win this Duel now, I activate the spell card, Inferno Fire Blast." Red Eyes took off, watching the field. "The spell card means that Red Eyes can attack you directly this turn, through direct damage."

Luna winced and looked up, Joey's Red Eyes bowed its head.

"It's okay, it's been a good duel, go ahead." Luna smiled.

Joey nodded, "Red Eyes, attack!"

The dragon fired off just one Inferno Fire Blast attack, though Joey had known him to get carried away once or twice, and when the flames and smoke cleared, Luna seemed perfectly fine, except that her life points had hit zero.

"Sorry you didn't get to play." She told her dragon as it faded away.

"Maybe next time, huh?" Joey asked as he reached her side. "Wanna go see how the others are doing?"

* * *

Ombre and Astraea were coming to an end on their duel, with only 100 points a piece left, and it had taken until this point for Yami to get himself composed again, while still thinking up all the various ways that he could wind Seto up.

He'd had an excuse, when he'd lost during that Tournament when they'd gotten their Duel Monster partners, his opponent had been at least part vela. What was Kaiba's?

Astraea's Diabolos, King of the Abyss was glowering at Ombre, the huge grey dragon roaring at Ombre's Exxod, Master of the Guard, which was in defence mode and protecting Ombre from harm while the room they were fighting in had been transformed into something that looked a little like the Grand Canyon, due to Ombre's field card.

Astraea was currently unable to get past Exxod, but Ombre couldn't summon anything strong enough to defeat Astraea's dragon. There was a reason for this.

Around five turns ago, Astraea had summoned a very weak monster, with only 300 attack points, and equipped it with something. Had Yami been paying attention, he would have know what she was up to, as it was he'd been a little busy laughing and Ombre had walked straight into Astraea's trap, attacking her Kuriboh and activating Astraea's Crush Card Virus, which had destroyed all of Ombre's strongest attacking monsters.

Luckily for Ombre, a lot of her deck's strength was in their defence and their special abilities, she'd managed to know two thousand points off of Astraea's total using Exxod's special ability, before the Slytherin had destroyed Ombre's Moai Interceptor Cannons and brought the duel to this standstill. Both were just waiting for the right card.

"I pass again." Ombre said, revealing Mystical Space Typhoon putting it at the bottom of her deck, before glaring at the card she'd drawn, all too aware that, through Diabolos's special ability, her Brain Control was in fact the third card from the bottom of her deck, and Shifting Shadows wasn't a particularly helpful card right now, as you had to pay life points to use it.

"Me too." Astraea glowered at her Nobleman of Crossout, wondering where it had been two turns ago.

"And again." Ombre glowered, revealing Ordeal of a Traveller and putting it at the bottom of her deck and staring irritably at Shield and Sword. Great, in fact it would have been perfect had she not been aware that the Crush Card would destroy Exxod the moment that it's 0/4000 stats flipped over.

Astraea drew again, "Yes! I play Pot of Avarice, allowing me to return five monsters to my deck and draw two new cards," She shuffled the five monsters back in and drew her two cards. "And I get Shield Crush, which I play now!"

Exxod exploded.

"Ombre, it's been a good game but… Diabolos, win the game! Attack!"

Ombre threw her arms up to protect herself from the direct assault, but it didn't protect her life points, which hit zero, much to the delight of the Slytherins watching.

"Well played Astraea." Ombre nodded, trying to be polite while the Slytherins who had been watching made rude comments rather loudly.

"You too. That was a close game." Astraea frowned at her friends from her house, who just grinned at her for a second and turned back to their loud conversation. "Rematch?"

"Sure." Ombre nodded, before shaking Astraea's hand and turning and walking off with her friends. Astraea caught Yami smiling at her before he followed Ombre out.

Astraea shook her head and turned to her friends, "Astraea," One giggled, "Bakura's won his game too, there's a party going on in the Common Room. Come on."

Her friend grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the door.

* * *

"It's not that funny." Yugi sighed as Yami paused long enough to catch his breath before he burst out laughing again.

"To be fair, Seto did wind him up mercilessly for weeks." Kari pointed out, from where she was sprawled over a chair, reading her transfiguration notes.

"Yes but it was in a much more subtle manner then this." Ombre glared at Yami who decided that now was a good time to go for a walk, mostly because he liked living.

"How are you doing with that?" Yugi asked, pointing at the notes, trying to ignore the fact Yami was scheming so loudly that Yugi could hear every detail and from the look on Harry's face, he could too, "Have you gotten any further with the animagus thing?"

Kari shook her head, "If anything I've had more trouble with it then ever, I don't think I'll have it down by the third task. I might have to wait until next year. Professor McGonagall has suggested that we take a break from it until September, considering that we only have a month left of the School Year."

"It makes sense." Yugi nodded, "You're learning a lot as it is so…"

"I just can't believe that this time next month it's all going to be over and we'll be on our way home."

"Thank the Gods." Kari sighed, "I'm not looking forward to this in the slightest, but at least I put my name in."

Harry nodded, trying to ignore what was going on around him in favour of getting on with his homework, which he had been in serious danger of falling behind on. "Can't wait."

Hermione, who was leaning on the wall, "Does anyone know if they found Mr Crouch?"

"No clue." Ombre shook her head, "No one's telling us anything and Percy was singularly unhelpful when we sent him an owl."

"Guys, I really think it is time we took this to Dumbledore." Hermione said firmly.

"I dunno Hermione." Joey frowned, having escaped the congratulations on his win in time to overhear. "If we tell him, he may want a demonstration and the Necklace isn't exactly easy to command."

"It shows what it wants to show," Yugi sighed, "We don't know how to control the visions yet, I've sent a letter out to Isuzu, though, asking about it, but it's a long way for the letter to go, so I'm not expecting an answer for a while."

"Where's Yami gone?"

"Away from Ombre since he couldn't stop laughing about the fact Kaiba got beat and it was irritating her." Kari said, she looked up and grinned, "Your fan club's back."

"What?" Joey wheeled around and squeaked as Colin Creevly took a photo.

 _`I feel sorry for Joey.`_ Harry sent to Yugi who looked amused.

" _So do I, but at least Colin's leaving you alone and I think it's cheering Ombre up."_

She did look highly amused as Joey went to hide from the aspiring Photographer and was followed by the boy.

"I still think that if you don't tell Dumbledore about the visions and something happens then you're never going to forgive yourself." Hermione said pointedly.

"I need to talk to Yami before I can make a decision about going to Dumbledore." Yugi said aloud, then, _"Yami, I need to talk to you."_

' _What's wrong?'_

" _Hermione thinks that we need to go to Dumbledore about the visions we've had from the Millennium Necklace. Professor Moody seems to be ignoring us and we have to try something."_

'…'

" _I think that its better then not doing anything, at least this way, Dumbledore couldn't claim that we deliberately held back something as important as this from him."_ Yugi sighed, _"If we catch him in his office, and explain exactly what's happened, we might get some sense out of him. If he needs us here as badly as Seto seems to think, then he should at least pay attention to us for that long."_

'… _You've already made up your mind about this haven't you?'_

" _Not really, I wanted to know how you felt about it. Revealing the powers of the Necklace may mean that we have to reveal the powers of the other items…"_

' _If he hasn't already stolen that information from the minds of our friends.'_

 _`Wouldn't he have mentioned it if he knew exactly what the Millennium Rod could do?`_ Harry asked.

' _Not if he didn't want to be caught out. He couldn't.'_

" _So what do we do?"_

' _We don't have a choice really. If we don't tell Dumbledore then we're not giving him a chance to intervene and when things go wrong, we could be accused of having a part in it. But by the same line of thought, we could be accused if we say something…'_

" _You're not making this easy."_

' _I'm just pointing out both sides of the equation.'_

" _Grrr…"_

' _It's up to you, I'll go with any decision you make.'_

" _Oh thank you."_ Yugi sighed.

"Unhelpful?" Joey asked.

"Just a little bit." Yugi nodded. _"Do you even have a preference on this?"_

' _I have no idea how to get round it, so…'_ Yugi and Harry could sense Yami's shrug, _'It's up to you.'_

Yugi leant back in his chair.

"What's he say?"

"It's my decision and he'll go along with whatever I decide." Yugi said, staring at the ceiling, "But it doesn't only affect me, if affects everyone…"

Ombre hummed something as she thought, Harry recognised it as the same thing that Mana had been singing, and he turned to look at her, confused, "If Moody isn't picking up on us hovering and checking and double checking, then I don't think we have a choice but to go to Dumbledore. He needs us here, so he has to listen to us."

"Even if he does nothing, we've told him and done everything we can do." Kari nodded, "And we can't, fairly, be blamed for the consequences."

"Alright." Yugi sighed, "I'll go…" _"Yami, I'm going to see Professor Dumbledore."_

' _I'll meet you there.'_ Yami sent.

"See you later, guys."

* * *

"Mr Muto, Pharaoh. Is there a reason you came to see me?"

"Professor Dumbledore, we require your help."

"Considering how little you seem to trust me, I do not see how I can help if there has been an accident with your magic again."

"There hasn't been an accident with our magic, but it's because of one of the Millennium Items that we have come to you." Yugi said slowly.

"What has happened?" Dumbledore asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Yugi looked unsure and Yami continued for him, "The Millennium Necklace presents visions of both the future and the past, and has recently revealed to us that something is going to go wrong with the third task."

"How recently?"

"Once before Christmas, and again earlier this week." Yugi said.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful, "And you didn't come to me before now?"

Yami and Yugi paused and looked at each other.

"You didn't trust that I would intervene." Dumbledore stated.

"In our defence, Professor, you didn't do anything about the Dusleys." Yami growled. "And you were entering the minds of our friends without permission in the name of the 'greater good'. How could we know if you would help or not?"

"Yami." Yugi's tone was more a warning then anything, to the Pharaoh, not to Dumbledore, a tone that said 'now is not the time'.

"What do you need my help for?" Dumbledore asked, noting the way Yami attempted to calm himself at Yugi's… what was basically a command…

"The Triwizard Cup is going to be turned into a Portkey and the first ones to touch it will be transported somewhere. We don't know where and we don't know what's going to happen afterwards." Yugi said. "We can't get to the Triwizard Cup and there's nothing we can do about it once it's inside the maze anyway."

"So you want me to keep an eye out for trouble."

"If you could escort the Triwizard Cup to the centre of the maze on the day of the task, we'd be grateful. If you place it in the centre of the maze, then someone is going to have trouble turning it into a Portkey before the task."

"Am I to take it that Miss Ironhide is going to be the winner then?"

"Harry and Kari are going to tie."

"It seems a shame that the results are already known."

Yami snorted, "We'd rather be able to prepare our friends then have them disappear on us completely unprepared."

"Understandable. Have you spoken to anyone else about this?"

"Only the others in the group. We were trying to attract Professor Moody's attention by checking and double checking everything, since he seems to have worked out that we, as a whole, are paranoid about our friends and family, but it didn't work." Yami said thinking, "But we haven't spoken to anyone outside the Clan about it."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful and sat back slightly. "How guaranteed are the visions provided by the Millennium Necklace and how often do they come?"

"Unless you actively go out of your way to change it, it's pretty much a dead cert. The only time we've seen a vision changed it took a Millennium Item to change it, but it did concerned one of the most stubborn people on the planet." Yugi said, amused when Dumbledore looked at Yami.

"Kaiba, not me."

"And how often do these visions come?"

"We've had three in the last few months, but other then that we haven't had one since Battle City, back before we came to Hogwarts." Yugi had already worked it out and didn't have to think about it.

"Three? You mentioned two…"

"One was a vision of the past," Yami said, "Back before the school year started, when Professor Moody's house was attacked."

"And he drove off the attackers with exploding dustbins." Yugi nodded.

"And you haven't had a vision before these in over four years?"

"We haven't really tried. We sent a letter off the former owner of the item, asking about a few things, but it's too soon to get a reply, since she lives in Egypt."

"You're not planning on leaving us, are you Pharaoh?" Dumbledore looked at little surprised.

Yami shook his head, "I want to find out my history but I don't want to leave, so we're enquiring about having the tablet of the Pharaoh brought to Japan."

 _`Yami, Yugi…`_ Harry prodded.

Yami shook his head, "We're getting off topic, can you do anything about the Triwizard Cup becoming a Portkey?"

"I will try my best." Professor Dumbledore nodded.

"Is there anything we can do about it?"

"Keep the Duel Monsters on standby, make sure they're ready if something happens and keep training Mr Potter and Miss Ironhide. If I cannot stop the events, then at least they aren't going to be unprepared."

"Thank you Professor." Yugi bowed and left, Yami in tow.

Professor Dumbledore looked at one of the portraits on the wall once they had left, "Could you inform Professor Moody that I'd like to speak to him?"

"Yes headmaster."

* * *

Everyone had been running late all day.

Classes had overrun, they'd been late leaving meals, they hadn't gotten down to breakfast on time, detentions had been gained for being late and all in all this had been a really bad day, so when Yugi staggered into the Common Room at eleven pm, having just finished his detention with Professor Moody, most of the others were already in bed.

Ron waved him over, he and Joey had stayed awake, while Yami had tried, but had fallen asleep an hour ago and Harry had given up at around half past nine.

"How'd it go? Yami and Harry said you were blocking them the whole time."

"I'm never being late to his class ever again; detention with Professor Moody is evil." Yugi groaned, sinking into the couch, "Apparently his idea of a detention is to test my reflexes in Wizarding combat."

"Ouch."

Yugi just nodded. "Ow."

"How'd you do?"

"Surprisingly well apparently." Yugi shrugged, "I was a little slow to start with, but once I got warmed up, all of that practise we've been doing seemed to pay off. He was much better, even with his peg leg, but I'm not surprised, he was an Auror."

"Damn Yuge." Joey winced, "Harsh or what?"

"Incredibly. Now if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go to bed." Yugi poked Yami, who jumped and started bombarding Yugi with questions as they headed upstairs.

"Did Yugi have his bag when he went to Moody's detention?" Ron frowned, looking around for it.

"Uh huh." Joey nodded, joining the search… "Damn, not here and he didn't take it upstairs…"

"I'll get it." Ron nodded, vaulting the sofa.

"Just don't get…" Ron was already gone, "Caught."

* * *

Yugi was late to breakfast, but when he came down he was carrying his bag. "Apparently one of the House Elves found it in the classroom and handed it in to Professor Moody." Yugi sat down and opened his bag. "All my books are still here, and…" Yugi paused, rooted around for another five minutes, pulled everything out and blanched, "The Millennium Items I keep in here are missing."

"Malfoy!" Yami bellowed across the Great Hall.

Draco jumped and Bakura actually looked startled as he looked over, but only for a moment. "What, Muto?"

"Outside." Yami glowered, nodding towards the double doors.

"Oh this can't be good." Joey winced as Yugi quickly followed his dark half out of the Great Hall. He would have gone too, but people were rapidly moving away from the double doors and blocking the exit.

"Where are they?" Yami demanded.

"Where are what, Pharaoh?" Bakura asked, hiding his confusion well.

"The Millennium Items, where are they?"

"In his bag, as far as I'm aware." Bakura pointed at Yugi, "I haven't touched them, they're no use to me unless I can beat the pair of you."

"Well considering that you're the only one who's interested in them, it has to be you who's stolen them."

"If I was going to steal them, I would have taken the Puzzle at the same time." Bakura snorted. "And challenged you for them already."

"But if you didn't take them…"

Bakura snorted, "Please, do you think I'd be so stupid as to have waited until you could accuse me in front of the entire school to admit that I had them? I have more sense then that, if I was going to challenge you to a battle for them, I would have interrupted your training session this morning."

"Had to be last night then." Yugi said, thinking quickly, "In the gap between me leaving my bag behind and the House Elf finding it."

"Wait, you left your bag unattended?" Bakura asked.

"Yes…"

"Four years I've waited for a chance like that and it finally comes along and I miss it?" Bakura sounded incredibly irritated.

"Okay, now I believe that he hasn't taken them." Yami snorted.

"I'll ask Professor Moody about it." Yugi said, frowning, "I'll meet you in class." Yugi was gone a moment later.

"Are you going to apologise or what?" Bakura asked.

"No." Yami shook his head, "Because I know that if you had been aware that Yugi's bag was unattended last night, you would have stolen the Millennium Items."

"Damn right." Bakura looked amused. "You'd better find them, before I do."

Yami glowered as Bakura walked away.

* * *

"I'm not joking." Yami growled warningly, when they spoke to their head of house later that day, "I will Shadow Game every student I have to until the Millennium Items are returned to us."

"Mr Muto!" Professor McGonagall sighed, "That is unnecessary. If you cannot find them by this time next week, I will demand a full search of all students' belongings."

Yugi wasn't saying anything and had shut his mind off from Harry and Yami, having done nothing but search the entire time he hadn't been in class, he was just hanging back as Yami went on a full scale rant about how a week was too long and the Millennium Items could be anywhere by then, sinking as low as he could possibly get as Yami went on about how dangerous they could be if they fell into the wrong person's hands…

Joey was the first to notice Yugi slipping away from the group and heading back towards Defence Against the Dark Arts and left Yami 'reasoning' with Professor McGonagall to follow.

He was startled to find that three corridors away, Yugi wheeled around and punched a wall.

"Yuge!?" Joey yelped. _'A little too much Yami there…'_

"I'm such an idiot!" Yugi growled, leaning against the wall, "I can't believe I lost the Millennium Items! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" With each 'stupid', Yugi banged his head on the wall.

"Yugi. Stop it." Joey pulled his friend away from the wall. "It was going to happen sooner or later. There's just too many people who want the power. You can't be perfect forever, you were going to slip up. It happens."

"You don't get it Joey, I'm not allowed to slip up! What if they fall into the hands of someone like Bakura or Marik or Voldemort?"

"Then they'd have to defeat you or Yami to get them to work for them." Joey said, "Calm down. So they slip out of your grip for a while, you aren't going to lose in a game to anyone, so it won't matter, I mean they have to specifically state that they're taking the Millennium Items as their terms, right?"

"Right…"

"Then relax. When have you or Yami ever lost a FAIR game?"

"Definition of fair?"

"When the opponent wasn't a vela or threatening to commit suicide." Joey paused, "Or when you didn't give up to prove a point… or weren't fighting someone under mind control… I'm not helping am I?"

"Not really."

"Would it be so bad if you never got the missing Millennium Items back? All they've ever done is cause you trouble."

"Yes…no…gah!" Yugi threw his hands up in frustration. "We need them, I know we need them, and if I don't get them back…" Yugi started heading down to Defence Against the Dark Arts again, "But at the same time, if we don't have them then we don't have to guard them the whole time and if no one can use them without defeating one of us… but then it only takes once and if we die, they're free for all again and…"

"I get it. We need them back." Joey sighed, "But how many times are you going to check the Defence section of the castle until you realise that they're not there?"

"Until I find them."

"Yuge…" Joey sighed. There was going to be no reasoning with the man until he realised that someone had the items in question and they weren't just lying around the department.

He gave up and followed his friend. If he couldn't convince him not to search, at least he could be there with him.


	18. And the Gears Keep Turning

Two weeks later and there was still no sign of the Millennium Items. No student had been revealed to have been hiding them when they'd gone through every student's trunks and things, and there was no sign of them in any of the teacher's belongings..

Yugi had pretty much stopped talking to anyone, while Yami was in such a foul mood that everyone had started avoiding him for their own safety. Meanwhile Bakura was partially amused and partially ready to murder someone, Ryou was trying to keep the situation calm and everyone else was staying out of it in an attempt to make sure that Kari and Harry were ready for the last task.

"So how does it work?" Joey asked as Kari scooped up the last of the potion.

The Bloodline potion had been bubbling away and was now in fact finished and the gang was waiting tensely.

"We should only need one Clan member to take it, but we should probably all do a sheet." Kari said, thinking, "We drink it today, tomorrow we have to give up half a pint of blood and transfer it to this." She held up the paper she'd specially prepared in a different type of potion. "The two potions will interact over eight or nine days, somehow seeking out the magicks in the blood and the ties that bind those magicks together, and if everything goes well we should get a list of those linked to the Clan Bloodline."

"So we should get the list on the day of the third task."

"Hopefully two days before." Kari nodded, "But we'll have to wait and see."

"And you're sure you got all the ingredients right?"

"As sure as I can be." Kari nodded, splitting the potion into nine, one for each of the founders who were here, who looked at each other, and downed the potion.

"Guess all we can do now is wait."

"And duel." Joey proclaimed. "I have a semi final waiting for me."

"Get." Harry laughed, pushing Joey out of the door, the others following, leaving Yugi and Kari to clean up.

"Kari, may I speak with Lord Yugi privately?" Mana asked, pausing as she came out of her room, cooing over Nakia.

"Sure, just let me take this." She lifted the empty cauldron by the handles and staggered out of the room with it, making Mana watch in a bemused manner, before turning a concerned gaze back to Yugi.

"You can't keep this up, Lord Yugi."

Yugi didn't answer, shuffling papers around.

"Yugi, please, at least talk to me." Mana sighed.

Yugi paused, looked at her and then turned back to shuffling papers around.

"Has Yami said anything to you?"

Yugi shook his head.

"Has he spoken to you at all?"

Yugi shook his head.

"Since when?"

"Last Thursday." Yugi's voice was quiet, but Mana caught it.

"So I was right to get Mahado to speak to him."

"No!" Yugi's voice cracked and he grimaced, "It was my fault."

"Yugi, we knew it had to happen eventually." Mana sighed.

"Great, so everyone knew I was a screw up."

"That isn't what I meant and you know it." Mana mock glared at him, causing Yugi to cringe, "Oh Yugi…"

"Sorry."

"Stop apologising, you're not a screw up, everyone makes mistakes. Didn't Joey try and tell you that two weeks ago?"

"Maybe…" Yugi sighed, "I shouldn't make mistakes, Mana. If I make mistakes, people get hurt. You know that."

"Everyone's allowed a screw up once in a while."

"But this isn't a screw up, this is an approaching apocalypse." Yugi wheeled around to look at her, "All it'll take now is one loss, that's it, and the M. Items are in someone else's hands again…" Yugi just shook his head, "I've been carrying them for years, and not once in all that time did I leave my bag behind, no matter how tired I was… I just forgot and… Yami's never going to forgive me if we don't get them back."

"There isn't anything you can do Yugi. We've searched the castle from top to bottom, all of the students have had their belongings turned upside down, the teachers have had their offices searched… I don't think the missing Millennium Items are in the castle any more."

"That doesn't help."

"I know it doesn't, but you might stop looking and eat or sleep if you admit that to yourself and whoever has them has to get through you or Pharaoh before they can use them anyway."

"I don't have a choice do I?"

"Well considering it's either that or have Harry and I force feed you, I think the former might be easier…"

* * *

"You can't keep this up, Pharaoh."

"Go away Mahado."

"It's killing Yugi."

Yami paused in his tracks. "What?"

"Yugi's killing himself over this and you haven't even noticed."

Yami froze for a moment before turning to face Mahado.

"I understand that you're angry with him. I would be in the same situation, but Yugi cannot hold on much longer the way he's going and neither can you."

"I'm fine."

"You're not. You've both slipped into the routine that you had last year, when you weren't eating or sleeping properly. I'm warning you, this year I'm not going to hesitate; Joey's already offered his help in force feeding you if it comes to that."

Mahado could see Yami's hesitation.

"And Robyn's already offering nutritional potions."

"I don't want to eat or drink anything Robyn offers!" Yami yelped.

"Yes… those cookies looked… wrong."

"I'm pretty sure cookies aren't meant to glow green."

"Then I guess you'll have to start eating." Mahado paused, "Are you going to start talking to Yugi again?"

"He isn't letting me." Yami growled, "He's keeping the link tightly shut, even against Harry, and has been avoiding the Common Room or the Dorm like the plague. I have no idea where he's been sleeping for the last couple of weeks."

"The sofa in the Monster's Wing." Mahado told him, "Out of guilt and because he figures you hate him."

"But I don't hate…"

"Tell Yugi that."

Yami leant against the wall and shook his head, "I've done a pretty good job of screwing things up the last couple of years, haven't I?"

Mahado didn't want to agree, but…

"I'll have to corner him if I even want to see him for longer then five minutes. I can't seem to catch him during lessons and he's always gone by the time I get to the door of the classrooms."

"Yugi's very good at avoiding being caught when he wants to be."

"I know." Yami's low growl told Mahado exactly how he felt about the bullies who had helped his hikari gain that particular skill.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Mahado?"

"You need to speak to Yugi, I need you to speak to Yugi, Mana's going to hunt you down and beat you to death with her staff if you don't speak to Yugi and I think Joey was talking about inflicting bodily harm as well…"

"Not that you lot are ganging up on us at all…"

"Would we do a thing like that?"

"Yes."

"Well there you go then." Mahado smirked, "Besides, Joey was talking about kidnapping Yugi and locking both of you in a room until you sorted this out, Mana and Harry are threatening to force feed Yugi and I would quite happily stand guard outside the room so neither of you could leave until this was sorted."

Yami smirked, his bad mood broken for the first time in days, "And how exactly would you get us in a room together if we weren't co-operating? It's not like you can slip anything into our food."

"That's what stunners are for."

"Have you been hanging around with Professor Moody?"

Mahado didn't answer, he just smirked.

"Oh… so which room is it that you're planning to lock us in? Because I'll just come quietly if it saves me the trouble of being unconscious again, that has happened far too frequently of late."

"There's a spare room at the top of Dragon Tower, with an outside lock."

"So I'll meet you up there when?"

"Tonight, eight o'clock. We have to make sure the semis are safely out of the way first."

"Alright." Yami nodded, "I'll see you then."

"I will come and get you if you don't come willingly."

"I can believe it." Yami laughed, "Alright, I'm going to watch Joey's match. I'll see you later."

"Wish him luck from us."

"I will." Yami left and Mahado was left surprised at just how easy that had been. Robyn had been right; appealing to Yami's protective streak when it came to Yugi had been the right thing to do. He would have to thank her.

* * *

This wasn't something Joey had been looking forward to, well… he had but at the same time he hadn't been. Duelling with Bakura wasn't exactly something that was particularly appealing.

Oh sure Bakura had behaved so far… but Joey had no great urge to play another Shadow Game, once had been enough for him… so he had to hope that he was uninteresting enough for Bakura to leave him alone.

Of course that didn't mean that Joey wasn't going to try his best to defeat him, it just meant that there was something else Joey had to worry about besides the duel itself.

"You ready Wheeler?" Bakura snorted, completely unconcerned.

Joey cast the spell and activated his Duel Disk, "Whenever you are."

"I'll go first then." Bakura drew. He had no intention of Shadow Gaming Joey, there was no point to it, but that didn't mean that he intended to lose the match. "One card in defence mode, and two cards face down." He smirked, "Your turn, Wheeler."

Joey drew and thought quickly, "I set two cards face down and summon the Blue Flame Swordsman in attack mode!"

The warrior with the sword wreathed in blue flames appeared on the field, glowering at Bakura.

"Attack Bakura's face down card!"

"I activate Fearful Earthbound!" Bakura called, as the swordsman attacked.

Joey's life points dropped by five hundred and his swordsman rebounded off of the weird monster card's shield.

It was a zombie like thing, with a shield and sword appearing from a bed.

"What happened?" Joey demanded.

"The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams matches your Blue Flame Swordsman, at least in defence, but Fearful Earthbound is a continuous trap card, which inflicts five hundred points of damage to your life points every time you declare an attack." Bakura smirked. "Are you done?"

"Your move." Joey growled.

Bakura smirked as he drew, "I sacrifice my Gross Ghost to summon Dark Ruler Ha Des, in attack mode." The level six fiend appeared, with a rather terrifying smile and a cruel laugh. "Not only is he stronger then your Blue Flame Swordsman, but any monster of yours that is destroyed by one of my fiends has its effect negated."

" _That's fine."_ Joey thought, _"I don't play anything like Old Vindictive Magician or Princess of Tsurugi."_ "So? Are you going to move or not?"

"Dark Ruler Ha Des, attack his Blue Flame Swordsman!"

"I activate Chasm of Spikes!" Joey grinned.

The Dark Ruler disappeared, falling into the chasm and Bakura's points dropped by 613, which was a quarter of Dark Ruler Ha Des's attack, rounded up from 612.5.

"You got lucky." Bakura snorted, "One card face down and I end my turn."

"I summon my Flame Swordsman." Joey called, "In attack mode, and activate Blue Flame Swordsman's special ability, decreasing Blue Flame's attack by 1700 and increasing Flame's attack by the same amount."

The Flame Swordsman grew to 3500 while Blue Flame Swordsman dropped to 100.

"Now Flame Swordsman, attack Bakura directly!"

"I activate Dark Spirit of the Silent, which negates the attack of your Flame Swordsman and forces your Blue Flame Swordsman to attack instead."

Bakura points only dropped by 100, while Joey's dropped by another 500 because of Fearful Earthbound.

"Unfortunately since you didn't declare the second attack, my card only takes five hundred points from you instead of a thousand, but…" Bakura shrugged, "I'm still ahead."

"Stay focused, Joey." Yami murmured, "You can still win this."

"I end my turn." Joey growled.

"I play Dark Designator, allowing me to guess if a monster is in your deck and if it is, it gets moved to your hand. And I know that you have your Red Eyes Black Dragon in your deck, so I'll pick that."

"Fine." Joey wasn't too concerned, searching through his deck and taking out his Red Eyes before shuffling the deck and putting it back in it's slot. "I don't know how that helps though."

"Oh it helps because of this, I activate Exchange."

"Damn." Joey glared as Bakura took his Red Eyes, and took Bakura's Spiritualism card.

"You can't play him though."

"No, but I can do this." Bakura summoned Headless Knight, "And then I can have him attack your Blue Flame Swordsman!"

Joey's swordsman exploded, taking 1350 of his life points with it.

"I'll win this shortly." Bakura laughed, "I end my turn."

Joey frowned as he drew. He was at a serious disadvantage, at only 1650, while Bakura still had 3287 life points, especially while Bakura still had his Fearful Earthbound… Spiritualism would help for one turn, and it was possible that one turn would be enough; Bakura had just one face down card…

He had both a ritual and the ritual monster in his hand too, so if he tributed the Alligator's Sword in his hand he could summon his Knight of Dark Dragons, but its effect wouldn't be overly helpful since Bakura had just taken his Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Still… 1900 attack points would be useful…

"I activate my Dark Dragon Ritual!" Joey called, "Offering my Alligator's Sword to summon my Knight of Dark Dragons!"

The 1900 attack point warrior appeared on the field, glancing at Joey before glaring at Bakura.

"I don't think your cards like me very much." Bakura sounded incredibly amused.

"I'm not surprised." Joey growled, pausing to think… if he attacked now… "I play Spiritualism, returning your Fearful Earthbound to your hand."

Bakura didn't look too bothered. Joey grew concerned. But there was nothing Bakura could do… right?"

"Knight of Dark Dragons, attack his Headless Knight!"

Bakura still didn't look worried, even as his points dropped to 2837.

"Flame Swordsman!" Joey decided to risk it, "Attack Bakura directly!"

Bakura was wreathed in flames for a moment… Bakura's life points hit zero.

Joey stared at him. "Were you even trying?" The shock in his tone was obvious. "You let me win that!"

"It's not over yet, White Knight." Bakura smirked, "You see I have a special card that I can only activate when I run out of life points."

"What?"

"I activate Relay Soul!"

Yami recognised that card, he knew that Yugi had one. If you ran out of life points, it allowed you to summon a monster from your hand and as long as that monster stayed on the field, you couldn't lose the duel…

Joey's Red Eyes Black Dragon took the field on Bakura's side…

"I'm safe as long as I have your Red Eyes on the field."

"You're only safe for one turn." Joey snarled.

"That's what you think and since all of your monsters have attacked, I guess it's my turn."

"Go." Joey growled.

"One card face down." Bakura smirked, they all knew what that card was, "And I play Spiritualistic Medium and choose Red Eyes."

"You need to send cards to the Graveyard to use that power up." Joey reminded him.

"Oh I know," Bakura laughed, "It's why I also play Card Destruction, sending these two from my hand to the graveyard, and drawing two new cards and you have to discard your entire hand too."

Joey only had one card in his hand but it was enough, causing Red Eyes to grow to 3900 instead of just 3400.

Making it stronger then Joey's Flame Swordsman.

"And I remove the three fiends in my graveyard from play to allow me to summon my Dark Necrofear." The monster appeared on the field. "Now, Dark Necrofear attack his Knight!"

The Knight exploded and Joey's points dropped by 500. This was cutting it far too fine…

"And Red Eyes, attack his Flame Swordsman!"

Flame Swordsman attempted to protect himself, but was destroyed by the Inferno Fire Blast… taking Joey's points down to 750.

"I activate Time Machine." Joey called, "Allowing my Flame Swordsman to return to the field as he was one turn ago."

The fire warrior returned to the field with 3500 points.

"I end my turn." Bakura snorted, not worried.

Joey paused before he drew. He knew what Bakura's face down card was, it had to be Fearful Earthbound… but that meant that Joey only had one more attack… and he had to use that one attack to destroy his own dragon…

He didn't want to do it and if he was honest he didn't know if he could. Even with his Flame Swordsman back, Red Eyes was still at 3900, the Flame Swordsman didn't stand a chance…

"You giving up?" Bakura asked mockingly. "You should, you can't win."

"Joey! Don't give up!" Kari called, "You can win this!"

"You just need the right card." Yami nodded.

Joey's eyes fell on Yugi, who was watching, even if he wasn't saying anything. The young man gave him a nod and the tiniest smile imaginable.

Joey drew.

"Yes!" Joey crowed, "I play Salamandra and equip it to the Flame Swordsman!"

The Gryffindors in the crowd cheered as the Flame Swordsman grew by another 700, to 4200. A dragon made of fire wrapped around the warrior's sword.

"Now I have you!" Joey grinned, "This Duel is done! Flame Swordsman attack Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

The dragon exploded and Bakura snarled at Joey.

"I win. Now give me back my Dragon."

* * *

Astraea frowned as she looked at her hand and then at the field.

Adelle had a huge machine out on the field, which seemed to have equipped Adelle's Red, Yellow and Green Gadgets to itself, called Stronghold the Moving Fortress. It had 3000 attack points and 2000 defence points.

This wasn't good news for Astraea, who was currently protected from attack by dint of trapping her opponent in a Nightmare's Steelcage, which would last another turn, and hiding behind her Mist Archfiend, which was in defence mode.

Once the Nightmare's Steelcage broke, Astraea would be in trouble.

"Do you have a move yet?" Adelle asked.

"Yes," Astraea nodded, "I set a card face down and I end my turn."

"That's it? Your Steelcage breaks at the end of this turn and that's all you have?"

"Just make your move."

"I activate Heavy Storm!"

Astraea's Nightmare's Steelcage, along with her two face down cards were destroyed, but it took Adelle's face down card with it.

"Why didn't it destroy Stronghold?"

"Because once he's been activated, he counts as a Monster Effect card." Adelle grinned. "Where as Heavy Storm only destroys spell and trap cards."

"Damn."

"Now, Stronghold, destroy her Mist Archfiend."

It exploded and there was nothing that Astraea could do about it.

"Your move."

Astraea drew, thinking quickly, "I set a card face down, then I have to end my turn."

"You're going to lose."

"No way."

"Oh I think so." Adelle was confident, "Stronghold, end the game, attack her life points directly!"

"Magic Cylinder!" Astraea called, activating the card, _Thank you Yami!_ She thought as Adelle's attack backfired and the French girl's life points dropped by 3000, leaving them almost equal with Astraea on 300 and Adelle on 400. "Told you it wasn't over."

"Your turn."

"I set a card in face down defence mode and end my turn."

Adelle wasn't quite so cocky this time. "I summon Mechanicalchaser in attack mode."

The odd machine appeared on the field holding a spear. "Mechanicalchaser attack her face down card."

It flipped over, revealing a Spirit Reaper, which didn't die.

"What?"

"Spirit Reaper can't be destroyed by battle." Astraea grinned.

"Oh. I play a card face down and end my turn then."

"I play a card face down and sacrifice my Spirit Reaper to summon my Lich Lord, King of the Underworld!"

The odd, winged zombie appeared on the field again, with that skeletal smile creeping Adelle out.

"Lich Lord, end the Duel! Attack her Mechanicalchaser!"

"Activate Sakuretsu Armor!" Adelle yelped.

Astraea's Lich Lord exploded.

"Your comeback ends now." Adelle said, relaxing.

"You do realise that my Lich Lord comes back at the end of the turn, right?"

"It's not strong enough to take out Stronghold, I'm not worried."

"Alright then, I end my turn."

The Lich reappeared.

"Now it's my turn to end the duel." Adelle growled, "I attack your Lich with my Stronghold!"

"Activate Dimension Wall."

"What?"

Astraea's Lich died in the attack, but it was Adelle who lost the 600 life points, not Astraea, meaning that Astraea won the Duel.

"But, how? I'm one of the best Duellists around back home!" Adelle complained.

"I had a good teacher." Astraea smirked.

* * *

"I said I'd come willingly damn it!" Yami protested as he picked himself up off the cold, hard floor, having just come round.

Just a few feet away Yugi was just beginning to stir and just to be certain Yami tried the door, which was locked just as Mahado had said it would be.

Yami patted himself down. Nope they'd taken his wand too. What about the…?

' _Oh that's going to improve Yugi's mood._ ' Yami thought sarcastically as he noticed that Yugi didn't have the Puzzle.

It was probably outside, it was certainly close enough to let Yami sense Yugi's shifting mood as he worked out what had happened, but it would not help at all for Yugi to work out that he had been drugged and locked in a tower and that the Puzzle had been taken from him.

"You ok?" Yami asked, offering Yugi a hand up.

Yugi just backed away quickly. Eyes widening as his hand automatically went to check the chain the Puzzle was attached to was still there, only to look down to gain confirmation that it was, in fact, gone. "Now the Puzzle too…"

"I think Mahado or Harry have it." Yami sighed, "We're locked in. Mahado was threatening something like this earlier, but I forgot to warn you in the excitement about the match."

"It's alright, I shouldn't have them anyway. It's not safe."

"Yugi, they're safer with you then with me."

"I lost three of them and obviously can't be trusted with the Puzzle." Yugi stared at him, before shaking his head and looking at the stone floor, falling silent.

"Yugi it was an accident, you didn't lose them on purpose. It's not like you got up and said, 'hey, I'm going to lose the Millennium Items today', is it." It was statement, rather then a question.

"I still lost them."

There was silence for a moment then, "Yes, you did." Yami sighed, "But I can bear losing them, what I can't take is if I lose you as well."

"But you hate me."

"What in the name of the Gods gave you that idea?"

_`Err…guys? Is there a reason I have the Puzzle?`_

Harry's plaintive question made Yugi smile slightly and Yami roll his eyes, amused. "Told you." Yami snorted.

" _Mahado decided it would be funny to lock me and Yami in a room at the top of Dragon Tower."_ Yugi replied.

_`Oh, me and Joey came up with that idea. That doesn't explain why I have the Puzzle.`_

' _Safety?'_ Yami hazarded a guess, then paused, _'Wait, you and Joey came up with this idea?'_

_`Eeep, gotta go, bye guys!`_

" _Harry!"_ Harry was already gone.

"Well at least we know it's safe." Yami sighed, before turning to give Yugi the most serious look he could muster, "Why do you think I hate you?"

"You should do." Yugi said, as Yami sat down next to him.

"I don't think so, not for making a mistake."

"But it's not that simple, is it?" Yugi asked, "It's never is that simple. Every mistake we've ever made has led to something going really wrong."

"That doesn't mean that we don't still make them, Yugi."

"But I shouldn't! It's my job to guard the Millennium Items! I shouldn't have been so careless."

Now Yami could see why the others had taken the Puzzle away. If it had been here it would have been reacting to Yugi's self hatred and there would have been shadows causing all kinds of havoc… as it was…

"Yugi Muto," Yami snapped, "You are the least careless person I have ever known."

A moment later he realised that that particular tone of voice wouldn't help in the slightest as Yugi sank in on himself. He sighed and tried again. "Yugi if anything this is my fault for not suggesting that you leave them behind when you went for your detention."

"You shouldn't have to have done." Yugi murmured, staring at the stones that made up the floor and refusing to look at Yami. "I should have remembered my bag."

"How many times in four years have you forgotten your bag?"

"Once."

"And how many times before your late night detention with Moody did you forget your bag?"

No answer.

"Not once." Yami reminded Yugi. "If you were careless you would have forgotten it lots of times before now. What it was was an accident, nothing more, nothing less."

"But you…"

"I wasn't angry at you for more then a day, Yugi. It's hard to stay angry at someone for making a mistake when they're doing everything they can to fix it."

"I still…"

"Beating yourself up isn't going to help." Yami warned, "You're killing yourself over this and I don't intend to let it continue."

"Yami, I'm fi…" Yugi trailed off at the look on his dark half's face.

"No, you're not, if you were fine then you wouldn't be starving right now and you would have had more then three hours sleep last night."

"I did have more then three hours sleep!"

"How many?"

"Four and a half…"

"That's not any better." Yami frowned, "You'll do yourself in like this."

"You're not any better." Yugi accused.

"I had six hours sleep last night."

"Yeah, but when's the last time you ate?"

"Dinner time, it's how they got me."

Yugi fell silent.

"You're not going to forgive yourself until the items are back in our hands, are you?"

"Would you?" Yugi asked scornfully.

"Probably not." Yami admitted. "But you're currently in no fit state to play someone for them, remembering that we have to lose before they will work for anyone else."

"How about we don't spread that around?"

"I haven't told anyone outside the Clan, but there are others who know." Yami nodded, surprised at Yugi's momentary vindictive streak.

While that would be one way to find out who had taken them, to find the person who had attempted to use them and died or gone crazy, it wasn't one that Yami found particularly tasteful.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt." Yugi denied, "Or dead, or crazy, or anything. I'm just…"

"Tired, annoyed, upset and hungry." Yami listed, "Two, hopefully three, maybe all four, of which can be remedied tonight."

"The tired and the hungry, I guess…"

"The upset too, hopefully, if you'll open the mind link. Everyone's been trying to reach you for weeks."

"Why?"

"You still don't get it do you?" Yami snorted, "Did you eat a millipede that Golden gave you or something? We care about you, and worry about you when you're like this." Yami sighed, "Besides, I should have shared the load. I've been letting you carry them for far too long and they're my responsibility too."

"Yes, but…"

"No buts. I'm more to blame then you are. I've been shirking my responsibilities."

"No you haven't. You just have more of them then you used to."

"In what way?"

"You have me, Harry, the Millennium Items, Astraea, the Clan, it all builds up."

"You have just as many," Yami pointed out, "You have to put up with me, as well as look out for the others, do your school work,…"

"I think your problems are bigger." Yugi interrupted.

"I don't." Yami disagreed. "You've got the same problems as me, but without the advantage of having a hikari who takes all of the load from you without you realising it."

"You don't deliberately…"

"I've already worked out that I offload onto you without thinking Yugi, there's no point in denying it."

"I don't mind…"

"I know, that's why I haven't realised it before now. But I should have done." Yami looked at him, "We're still partners, right?"

"Always."

Yami smiled sadly, leaning back, "Always is a long time to have to put up with me."

"I can cope."

"Just don't have a breakdown on me, let me share the load instead of breaking under the weight. I need you by my side, I'd go crazy otherwise."

"You didn't see what I was like during second year."

"No, but Joey's made it perfectly obvious that neither of us are to go missing, or get petrified if the other doesn't too, ever again."

Yugi laughed lightly, "Like we can help being kidnapped or being petrified by a basilisk."

Yami just snorted.

"I mean how could I have found the basilisk to get him to petrify me too?" Yugi continued, "I don't speak snake."

Yami just shook his head, amused.

"If we can get out of here, shall we see if the House Elves have any food going in the kitchen they'd been willing to share?"

"I'm not hungry." Yugi said, only for that to be revealed as a lie as his stomach complained loudly, now that Yugi was thinking about food again.

Yami cracked, laughing for a full minute and a half before he managed to calm himself down.

"It's not that funny."

"I'm sorry, it shouldn't be funny at all, but that was classic timing." Yami said, still smiling, "You have to eat, Yugi."

"I will do."

"That's what you said to Joey too." Yami turned serious again, "And that was a week ago."

"I'll eat." Yugi said stubbornly, "I don't…"

Yugi was interrupted by a House Elf with a plate of sandwiches and a plate of glowing green cookies. "Miss Golden said that you'd be wanting food?" The House Elf asked.

"Thank you." Yugi took the plates and the House Elf vanished with a pop.

"Do you think they're safe?" Yami asked, poking one warily.

"Maybe. Obviously they're not planning to let us out any time soon though, if they're sending food."

"Or maybe Golden is trying to poison me again." Yami glowered at the cookies.

"I'm sure they're not meant to be green."

"Or glowing."

"The sandwiches are probably safe."

"Probably."

Yugi picked up a cookie.

"I really wouldn't eat that."

"I dunno, it reminds me of those radioactive treats in that anime we watched a while back."

"That's what worries me."

"That they might be radioactive, or Robyn magicked them from an anime?"

"Either, both… I don't know."

"Well considering Robyn's beliefs on what is and isn't edible..."

"Put the cookie down Yugi."

Yugi took a bite. "Tastes good."

"I'm sure that sandwiches are supposed to come before cookies."

"Just try one."

Yami, warily, picking one up and looking at it as if he thought it might bite him.

Yugi tried not to laugh through a second mouthful of cookie. "Besides." Yugi said, once he'd finished the first cookie, "What're the odds that we're not getting out of here until we've eaten everything on both plates?"

"Too high." Yami growled, "It's a conspiracy."

"Well we could try to break the door down, but I don't think we're heavy enough, and it's too far to jump."

"Accio broom?"

"Took our wands, remember?" Yugi picked up a sandwich, examining it, "Tuna and salad. It looks safe."

Yami ate his cookie and picked up a tuna sandwich, before looking at Yugi, who seemed to be enjoying his own. He shrugged, and took a big bite.

Yugi was curled up on the empty bed, having fallen asleep a couple of hours ago, while Yami was attempting to prod Mahado over the connection.

' _Mahado? Harry?'_

No response.

' _Mahado? Harry?'_

Still no response.

' _Mahado!'_ Yami growled as he realised that it was highly probable that the pair had fallen asleep in the time it had taken them to empty both plates, not that Yugi had wanted to eat much, but something was better then nothing. _'Harry!'_

' _Guys?'_ Yami called finally, ' _Where the hell am I supposed to sleep?'_ Yami grumbled the latter mostly to himself as he looked around the room, figuring that they weren't getting out of here tonight and stealing a couple of pillows from underneath the bed.

He gave up and led on the floor, on the pillows and gazed at the ceiling, still wondering what had made those cookies glow green like that.

He was asleep soon after.

* * *

"You do realise they're still up there, right?" Joey asked at training the next morning.

"Yeap, Yugi hasn't woken up yet." Harry laughed, "And if Yugi, who's an early bird, hasn't woken up yet…"

"We won't see Yami until midday at the earliest." Joey nodded, understanding. "I suppose we can let them off of training today."

"I just hope they got everything sorted." Kari said turning to look at the window of the Monster's Wing, where Mana was waving from. _"Mana, do you know what happened last night?"_

_As far as I'm aware, Yugi and Yami seem to have settled things, but Miss Golden asked us to leave them alone until they wake up._

" _Thanks."_ Kari replied, "Mana says they're still asleep and Robyn said to leave them alone."

"Robyn's interfering?" Seto asked sharply.

"She is Clan." Kari reminded him.

Seto shrugged, "As long as no one forgets to let them out at some point today, its fine."

"I don't think Yami would be too amused if we left him locked in a tower for the whole weekend."

"Damsels in distress." Hermione giggled.

The mental image of Yugi and Yami as damsels in distress, evening gowns and all, hit the whole group and they all either ended up flat on their backs, laughing uncontrollably, or looked incredibly disturbed.

"Question." Joey gasped, as they began to calm down, "Wouldn't Yami have to rescue himself, since he's royalty and it's always the prince who does the rescuing?"

"There's always the knight in shining armour who can rescue the princesses…" Kari grinned at Joey, who quickly figured out who she was talking about, causing her to squeak as he chased her halfway around the lake.

"I'm not sure which is more disturbing." Hermione shuddered, "Imagining Yami and Yugi as girls, or Joey as their knight in shining armour?"

"Can we please change the topic of conversation?" Ron begged.

"Wouldn't this make Seto the villain, since it's always the evil vizier who tries to take over from the royalty?" Ombre asked.

"Shut it Ironhide." Seto glared.

"You're just proving my point."

"My big brother's not evil." Mokuba chipped in.

"Thank you Mokuba."

"Besides, Seto could run a country better then Yugi and Yami, all they'd do all day is play games."

"You're not helping."

"Or fight Bakura."

"I could beat Bakura."

"Still not helping."

"Could you win against Bakura?"

"Anyone the Mutos can beat, I can beat with more life points remaining." Seto growled.

"Anything you can do I can do better…" Ombre sang, trying very hard not to giggle and failing miserably as Kari and Joey returned.

"He can do anything better then who?" Kari asked.

"He can beat anyone easier then the Mutos can." Harry said, ignoring Seto's glare. "He was trying to convince us that he wasn't the evil vizier trying to take over from the royalty, but he doesn't seem to be doing a very good job of it."

"So Seto's the one who imprisoned Yami and Yugi in a tower?" Joey asked.

"Uh huh." Kari nodded.

"Okay then, in the name of the Pharaoh, I challenge you, foul vizier, to a duel!" Joey said, with a perfectly straight face.

"You're on, you mangy mutt, but if you lose, you'll never see your princes again." Seto smirked back, an evil smirk that startled everyone.

"This is getting silly." Hermione complained.

"It passed silly five minutes ago." Ombre advised, "Now let the boys have their fun."


	19. Eclipse

They were two days away from the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament and the Finals of the Interschool Wizard Duel Monsters Tournament and Kari had slipped into the Monster's Wing to check the papers that should, in theory, be done with the processing of the bonds.

If she and Robyn, who would be here in a few minutes, could confirm that the papers were done, the others were going to join her, and they would work out what was to be done about those who were Clan Members that were on the list and weren't supposed to be.

She ignored the founder's list, since she knew who was on that one and browsed down the member list, pleasantly surprised to find the birth years of the members printed alongside their names.

There were a few unexpected names, Isuzu, Odeon, Marik, Draco and his Mother… and how they got on the list was beyond her, it had to be because Bakura was on the list, dependants maybe… Yami was not going to be pleased that Pegasus was on the list, but then they had kind of thought that he would be, since he'd saved Ombre and Mokuba during that Anubis thing…

Rai… was on the list, but he had a deceased date too, while Bakura had two birth dates, one from his first life and… if she was calculating properly, then he had a second birth year at the time they had gotten their own bodies.

She scanned the founder's list, pleased to find that this suspicion was borne out when Yami and Ombre had the same, but… "Gods of Egypt…" She hissed.

She checked another sheet, there had to be a problem… because the dates on her name were wrong. She shouldn't have a death date yet…

She checked the other eight sheets, her frown increasing as she noted that all of them had her year of death at two years ago, 1993.

That wasn't right, she hadn't died two years ago… she thought back to the Summer of that year… no, she hadn't died during the battle with Anubis, Yugi and Yami had come pretty damn close, but she hadn't died…

She'd been petrified during the second school year, but again, she hadn't been killed…

That only left the Autumn term of… no… oh no… No! It was still wrong, she wasn't dead, she hadn't died during her fight against Bakura, she hadn't! If she had done, she would have never left the Shadow Realm, Ombre wouldn't have been able to save her…

But it was the only thing she could think of that fit… collapsing in the Shadow Realm… her soul should have been shredded, lost to the Shadow Realm for all eternity… but Ombre had saved her… how?

Kari stared at the papers.

She was alive… she breathed, she could use magic, she still acted like a living human female… she needed Robyn to tell her if it was possible for the paper to have gotten this wrong… it was just paper and potions after all, it was possible there was a mistake… right?

Right?

"Kari?" The young woman didn't turn around to face the door, where Robyn had just entered from, not really hearing the question. "It should be complete by now."

Kari sat down and waved the papers at Robyn, who frowned and took them.

"Morgana!" Robyn exclaimed.

"I'm… Am I…" Kari stared at the floor, trying to work out something, anything, that could make sense, "I don't know how I can be dead, I mean I know how it might have happened… but I'm still breathing… so it has to be wrong, doesn't it?" Kari asked.

Robyn shook her head lightly. "It is possible to die, then come back. Muggles do it with their machines, magic can do it, you have no second birth date. It is possible you only died for a moment."

"What if I died in the Shadow Realm?"

"I know little of the shadows. I have told you this before."

"When I collapsed in my game against Bakura last school year, my soul should have been shredded and lost to the Shadow Realm for the rest of eternity. Somehow Ombre pulled me back, but no one knows how she did it. As far as I can work out, that's the only time that year that I could possibly have died." Kari looked at her friend, "I don't understand it myself, but..." Kari shook her head and looked away again, not really wanting to ask Ombre for fear that she'd get an answer she didn't want.

"Maybe they accepted a bargain. It is said the old gods liked bargains. Maybe you did die. But there are many stories of brave souls who retrieved their loved ones from the jaws of death."

"So… I died… but Ombre managed to reason with the Shadows to let her have me back?" Kari asked, "The Shadows do like to bargain…" She shuddered, remembering the deal Yugi had had to agree to, to make them let Yami go, "And it makes more sense then the thought that maybe my soul didn't shred, because if that had been the case, then Yugi would have a death date too, because he should have died against Pegasus, but didn't…"

"You are here. You breathe. You feel. You live. Does anything else matter? Is Ombre any less alive?"

"No… I suppose not… but…" Kari blinked and properly looked at her best friend, "Ombre is alive, she has a birth date…two in fact."

"If the memory lives, then so do you."

Kari thought about it, and accepted it, sighing, "I don't know whether I should show this to the others now though, Yami might go and kill Bakura and Ombre might help…"

"In a few days it might not matter."

Kari frowned and looked at Robyn, "Someone's going to kill Bakura?"

Robyn glared the glare of the absolutely furious. "Have you not been listening all this time!" Before half storming out the room, only hesitating to pick up the various sheets. "Now it's out of your hands." Robyn hissed.

"Robyn!" Kari called, chasing her, Robyn was gone already. "What did I do?" Kari shook her head, still trying to chase the last remnants of fear and confusion from her mind and finding that they were being replaced by tears. She'd done it again… she was good at pushing people away… she had been doing nothing but that since the Shadow Game… except with Seto… Seto knew the signs… knew how to handle her at her worst… "I'm sorry."

* * *

"So Golden took the sheets?" Yami asked as they sat in the Monster's Wing.

"Uh huh." Kari was sat on the window ledge, looking out at the sunset, "I dunno if she'll hand them back, but we have to worry about other things. We have a few unexpected Clan Members. Pegasus, Marik, Isuzu, Odeon, Bakura, Draco, Draco's Mother…" Kari paused to try to remember, holding up her hand as the others started talking, "Duke, Tea, Tristan, Serenity, Mai, oh, here's one you're just going to love Yami, Shadi is a Clan Member."

"Shadi?"

"Shadi." Kari said firmly, "Some of the Duel Monsters too."

"Why Shadi?"

"Anyone who has protected the Clan in the past and would do so again." Kari shrugged.

"Anyone else?" Yugi asked quietly, his voice only just heard in the noise the others were making.

"Not that I can think of right now." Kari shook her head, "It's not too bad, it's only really Bakura and Draco who cause trouble now."

"I wanted to invite Serenity myself." Joey hissed, leaning back and thinking, "And Mai, if we see her again." He sighed, "They're going to be pretty pissed that they've become family without being asked."

"I'm sure we will see Mai. We're going to be competing more often after all." Yami attempted to reassure Joey.

"So what do we do?" Harry asked.

"Nothing we can do." Hermione shrugged, "We'll just have to focus on the task and hope that it doesn't come up."

Silence fell and Kari sighed heavily. She wanted to be alone. To think without interruption. She didn't want to be surrounded by people… She'd worked out what Robyn had meant earlier.

She needed to speak to Ombre.

The sun set behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest and Kari turned to look at the others, who were all thinking… or at least some of them were, she glanced at Yugi, Yami and Harry, who as far as she could tell, were all conversing over the mind link.

"I think that we should go to bed, give training a rest tomorrow and face the task fresh and ready to go." She said finally, "What do you think?"

Yami nodded his agreement. "It's a good idea. Shall we?" He asked, looking around. The others all stood up.

"Ombre, can I speak to you?" Kari asked, as the Princess headed out of the door. "Privately?" Ombre hung back as the others gave them interested looked as they left, the door swinging shut behind Ron.

"What's wrong?"

"What did you have to offer, to save me?" Kari asked.

"Kari?" Ombre had a horrible feeling that somehow Kari knew… but she couldn't know…could she?

"I know I died Ombre. What did you give up to save me?"

"I'd give up anything, you know that."

"That's not an answer, what did the Shadows force you to give up in order to have me back?"

"Kari…I…" Ombre hesitated, unwilling to tell her the truth.

"Forget it." Kari sighed, leaning back on the window sill. "In the end, it wasn't worth it."

"Kari?"

"What will you do, after the last task?"

"Finish the school year and go home with you, of course."

"And what if you can't?"

"Kari?"

"What if you can't come home with me?"

"What has that friend of yours been saying?"

"The same thing she's been saying all year." Kari shrugged, "I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"If something happens to me, look after Hermione, please."

"Hermione's…"

"Not just Hermione, look after the others as well… but Hermione's like my little sister, if something happens to me, make sure she's alright, please."

"Kari, where did this come from?"

"Shut your eyes and dream your life away. I can not do more then I have done." Kari quoted, shaking her head. Silence fell.

"You're going to come back from the task." Ombre said with a lot more confidence then she felt, and she knew Kari could sense it.

"Am I?" Kari asked, looking at Ombre. "We don't know that."

"The future can be changed."

"I think… it's too late."

"Kari…"

"Just leave, please. I want to be alone."

"No."

"Go."

"I won't."

Kari left, needing to find solitude and knowing that she wouldn't find any here.

* * *

Letters.

Simple but effective in saying everything that needed to be said.

To one friend, an apology for being stupid.

To another, a request for protection for her friends.

Another, 'don't blame yourself'.

Others were goodbyes, a 'see you later', or a 'Sorry I couldn't stick around'.

The simplest, 'Thank you for everything'.

All of them, bar the one letter that she'd slipped under the door of Miss Golden's office, left with her Head of House, she headed downstairs, touching the empty House Point hourglasses as she passed them, remembering with a small, sad smile, the crazy that had caused the House Cup to be suspended for this year… that had been Joey and Seto's fault…

Pausing just before she passed the doors into the grounds, for what would probably be the last time, she turned to look at the school.

Sure it hadn't been perfect… but for a while, it had been home.

She left.

* * *

Down in the main arena, Joey and Astraea were just setting up for the finals of their Tournament.

The third task would start just after their duel finished, so the stands were packed. It was the biggest crowd Joey had had for a long time, and he was surprised to see that Kari had yet to join the Champions who were waiting patiently to one side.

Harry gave him a thumbs up, though Joey could see how nervous he was, just like the rest of the Clan, who were all worried and waiting. There was nothing they could do now, what would happen, would happen. All they could do was pray to the Gods that they had done enough.

"Ready?" Astraea asked.

Joey watched Kari join the other champions, smiling, though he could see it was forced and that she'd been crying and sighed, "Astraea, can I have a moment please?"

Astraea looked at Dumbledore, who nodded, "Two minutes."

Joey rushed over to the bench, where the Champions were sat. "Kari, you ok?"

"No." Kari laughed. Joey worried at the hint of hysteria in her tone.

"Do you need me to do anything?"

"Kick her butt." Kari smiled slightly.

"Easy as one two three." Joey nodded.

"Good." Kari pushed him towards his match.

Joey shook his head, wondering exactly what had happened, but knowing that Ombre wasn't talking and Kari had been avoiding everyone for the last couple of days, and turning to face Astraea. "Now I'm ready."

"Students of Hogwarts, Beuxbatons and Durmstrang, Teachers, Head Teachers, and Judges, welcome to the final task of the Triwizard Tournament." Dumbledore said, using a charm that increased the volume of his voice.

Joey scanned the crowd for the group… there, the Clan, together. Grandpa, Sirius and Dudley were sat with the group, Yugi and Ombre looked worried, Yami didn't do the looking worried thing, but he had that air to him that Joey recognised as Yami being worried… just as they all were…

"Before the final task begins, we have one more pleasant duty to fulfil. The interschool Duel Monsters Tournament has reached its final stage and I am pleased to announce that it is a all Hogwarts final… to my right, is Miss Astraea Torrent, of Slytherin House, and to my left is Mr Joseph Wheeler, of Gryffindor House."

There were cheers from the surrounding crowd.

"Let the match begin."

"May I?"

"Ladies first."

"In that case," Astraea drew, "I set a card in defence mode and play one card face down. Your move White Knight."

Joey drew, "What is it with you Slytherins and the White Knight thing?" He asked, "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode and play two cards face down. Gearfried, attack her face down card!"

The card exploded and took 1000 of Joey's life points with it.

"Well we could call you Red Knight, but you don't really fit the image of the Black Knight. Oh by the way, you can blame Kari for that loss of life points, I traded with her for one of her Princess of Tsurugi."

"I end my turn. Do the others have nicknames within your house?" Joey asked, curious as Astraea drew.

"Another card in face down defence mode." Astraea called, "And I end my turn." She grinned at him, "Why do you want to know?"

"Just interested." Joey drew, "Well, that and I wondered if we were all chess pieces…" He considered the field. He didn't want to attack that face down card, since he had no idea how many of her Princess of Tsurugi Kari had traded away, "I sacrifice Gearfried for Jinzo!" The creepy machine monster appeared on the field. "Do your thing Jinzo."

The humanoid mech blasted away both of Astraea's face down cards, making her scowl since one of them had been her Crush Card Virus.

"Jinzo destroys all traps on the field." Joey grinned, "So you can't get me with that Crush Card of yours. I end my turn, by the way."

Astraea drew, reformulating a strategy on the fly in her head, playing Magical Mallet, returning her entire hand to the deck in order to draw the same amount of cards, before smirking, "You don't want to know."

Joey, who was always wary when his opponent smirked, was unsure if she was smirking about the nicknames or the duel, "Why?"

"I set another card in defence mode." Astraea sounded a little too amused for Joey's liking, "Your move."

Joey considered the field as he drew his Red Eyes Black Dragon, "I summon Sasuke Samurai in attack mode. He can destroy your face down defence cards without activating their special abilities. Samurai, attack!"

Astraea's Mask of Darkness exploded.

"I end my turn."

"Well," Astraea continued to smirk as she drew, "You and Harry are the knights, Hermione and Kari are the bishops and Ron and Ombre are the Rooks."

"Do I want to know which way around Yugi and Yami are?" Joey asked, as Astraea summoned her Plague Wolf.

"Which is the most important piece, in a chess game?" Astraea grinned, "I use my Plague Wolf's effect this turn, doubling its attack, but it's destroyed at the end of the turn. This means that my Plague Wolf has an attack of 2000, while your Samurai has an attack of 500…"

Joey winced as his samurai was eaten, and his points dropped to 1500. "The king, obviously."

"And who is the more important out of Yugi and Yami?" Astraea asked, "I end my turn." Her wolf exploded, sent to the graveyard.

Joey drew and thought about his answer, it was Yugi obviously. It was Yugi who had completed the Puzzle, Yugi that was the glue that bound the group together… "Does that mean you're dating a queen?" Joey asked slyly, trying not to laugh.

Astraea just shrugged.

"So are there Slytherins who are chess pieces too?" Joey asked as he summoned his Blue Flame Swordsman and considered the field… "I activate Salamandra, equipping it to the Swordsman." The Blue Flame Swordsman grew to 2500, and the fiery creature that surrounded his sword turned into a bluey white creature, instead of a redish yellow… "Now, Swordsman, attack her face down card."

It was Astraea's Spirit Reaper, which sat there and pulled silly faces at Joey's irritated Swordsman, since it couldn't be destroyed by battle.

"I guess I have to end my turn then, since I can't get past that thing at the moment."

"For that, you'll need your trap cards, which means that you'll have to get rid of your Jinzo." Astraea grinned, "I play a card in defence mode and end my turn."

Joey was aware of that little fact, "I summon Rocket Warrior in attack mode and…" He paused to consider… "I attack your face down card with my Swordsman!"

Astraea's Mystic Tomato exploded as it burned to a crisp…

"Lovely." Joey groaned… "What are you doing?"

"I can summon a dark creature from my deck with 1500 attack or less, due to my splattered tomato's effect, and I pick this one, my Dark Effigy." The floating set of cubes appeared on the field. "It's got exactly the same attack points as your Rocket Warrior."

"True, but my Rocket Warrior has a special ability, I activate invincible mode, which blows away half of Dark Effigy's attack points!" Joey crowed as Rocket Warrior turned into his rocket mode and blasted away 750 attack points, "Allowing my Jinzo to do more damage to your life points!"

Jinzo blasted Dar Effigy, causing it to self destruct and costing Astraea 1650 life points. "Your move Astraea and you didn't answer my question."

"We Slytherins don't rank each other like that, only on how powerful we are, or how much influence we have. I play Monster Reborn, recovering my Mystic Tomato in order to sacrifice it and my Spirit Reaper for this, Diabolos, King of the Abyss!"

It was huge, a large grey dragon, with red and grey wings and glowing red eyes.

"And I think that I'll have him destroy your Rocket Warrior. It won't quite end the game, but it'll bring me close to victory."

Diabolos blasted Rocket Warrior, who exploded in the heat, and Joey hissed as his Duel Disk bleeped as it counted down.

"Just 200 points left, Knight, then it's all over."

"Two hundred points is more then enough to make a comeback." Joey drew.

"You have to show me that card and put it on the bottom of your deck, thanks to Diabolos."

"Damn." Joey showed her Roulette Spider and put it at the bottom of his deck; drawing a new card and playing it face down. "I activate Blue Flame Swordsman's effect, making him give up all bar one hundred of his attack points, to boost Jinzo's by 2400 and switch my swordsman into defence mode."

The Blue Flame Swordsman lowered his sword as he switched and Jinzo's attack rose from 2400 to 4800.

"That gives Jinzo more then enough points to wipe out your Diabolos and almost win the game for me." Joey grinned, "Jinzo, attack Diabolos!"

The dragon roared as Jinzo's attack hit, a final effort to stay on the field before it and 2000 of Astraea's life points vanished.

"Your move."

Astraea was in trouble and she knew it, Jinzo had pretty much shut down her deck, since she relied on the trap cards in it to force the opponent to damage his own life points… she drew, "I activate Nightmare's Steelcage!" She called. The spiky cage closed in around Joey, who looked quickly behind him, half expecting Lava Golem to be there… he hadn't forgotten his last experience inside one of these. "But that's all I can do."

"I set a card in defence mode and end my turn."

"I also set a card in defence mode and end my turn."

"I tribute my face down card and my swordsman, for Red Eyes Black Dragon."

Red Eyes roared, and though he was smaller, he somehow, even imprisoned in the cage, which was looking rather full now, managed to look more imposing the Diabolos had. "And that ends my second turn."

The cage faded away.

Jinzo smirked, something that looked incredibly wrong, considering it's face, and Red Eyes flapped his wings, taking off and hovering a few feet above the ground. He hated to be caged… "What're you going to do now?" Joey asked.

Astraea didn't know, if she was honest, there wasn't much she could do about a 4800 attack point monster that could cripple her trap cards and a huge 2400 dragon, without the aforementioned trap cards. But she couldn't give up, it wasn't in her vocabulary and it certainly wasn't something she could easily live down…

"I sacrifice my face down card for my Lich Lord!" It appeared on the field and smirked at Joey.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking your Dragon with me. Lich Lord, attack his Red Eyes Black Dragon!"

"No!" Joey yelped. He hated it when his Red Eyes went to the graveyard… but it exploded, as did the Lich, as both of them had 2400 attack points.

"And on that note, I end my turn."

Joey sighed as he drew, placing one card face down, "You're wide open, you know that right?"

"You shut down my deck with that Jinzo card." Astraea glared at him.

"Jinzo, end the duel, attack Astraea directly!"

And that was it.

Even if Astraea had been on full life points, she couldn't have survived the direct assault, all 4800 points of it.

The crowd roared, and Joey grinned. The winner… and though it felt a little cheap, what with no Yugi, no Yami and no Seto to fight, it was still a win for him, and no one else.

Seto glowered at him as Joey took the prize and agreed to speak with him after the task.

The champions stood up, and Joey's mood dropped.

From the entrance at the side, Robyn ran out and caught Kari in a tight surprise hug. "I'm sorry. So sorry." Robyn whispered.

"Hey." Kari hugged her friend back, "Me too, I'm sorry for everything."

"Miss Ironhide." Dumbledore called and Robyn backed off, as Kari took a deep breath, "Are you ready?"

"Almost."

"One minute."

Kari nodded. "That's all I need."

The other Champions took their places, at the other three entrances of the maze, leaving the one closest for Kari.

"You're going to be alright, right?" Kari asked Robyn. "I mean you have the Clan…"

"I won't have the one I want though."

"I know but I can't leave Harry to whatever it is now. I have to be there. I don't know why, but I do…" Kari looked down, "You understand, right?"

"Unfortunately."

"So this is Goodbye?"

"I'll see you again soon enough."

"The next time around." Kari nodded, and caught her friend in a hug, "Until I see you again then."

"Until we meet again." Robyn nodded.

"Kari! Harry!" Their friends waved at them from the stands, "Good luck!"

Kari waved back, smiled at Robyn, and took her place.

"Mr Potter and Miss Ironhide will enter first, then Mr Krum and finally Miss Delacour." Dumbledore's voice rang out. "You will enter the maze to the sound of the…" The cannon went off with a loud boom and Harry and Kari looked at each other, nodded just once, and entered the maze.

All at once it was night time and silent. Which was weird considering that it had been sunset and the crowd had been really loud. It had to be something the teachers had done in order to throw off the champions even further…

Kari continued down the passage way, wondering if Krum had entered the… by the Gods she hated spiders! "Arania Exumai!" She squeaked, sending the enlarged spiders that were crawling towards her flying into the bushes.

"Concentrate Kari!" She growled at herself, as she rounded a corner… it looked safe, but then… it was clear, giving her a chance to use a spell, "Point me." She hissed, her wand span in her hand, pointing through a hedge, towards two o'clock if she'd been looking at a clock.

She needed to head towards the north-east… having no other route, she continued down the corridor until she reached a junction and took the one that headed east, figuring that at some point, there would be a junction that turned north before she got… that was a bloody big lizard thing… it could almost be called a dragon, but it wasn't a type she'd ever known, more like a wyvern then anything.

It stared at her, she stared back.

It stared at her, she stared back.

It lunged at her.

"Everte Statum!" Kari growled, "Petrificus Totalus!"

The body-bound wyvern did not look amused as she passed it.

* * *

It had to be said that even with all the things they had prepared for; Harry was not prepared for when the sky and the floor decided that they were going to swap places. It was because of that gold mist, he knew it, but how was he going to make it swap back around again?

There was a feminine scream and for a horrifying moment, Harry thought that it was Kari. Then he relaxed slightly, only slightly, when he realised that it was only Fleur… and that was terrible, Harry realised, as he decided that the best course of action would be to just attempt to walk, Fleur being hurt wasn't any better then it being Kari… he took a step and the floor and sky went back to being where they were supposed to be.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and cast the four point spell, which told him, straight ahead. It wouldn't be that simple, but at least he knew he was going the right way.

For ten minutes there was nothing but the wrong routes, then Harry found a clear route and started jogging to try to make up the time lost.

"What in the name of the Gods do you think you're playing at?" Kari demanded loudly enough for Harry to hear. If Fleur was down, then Kari had to be talking too…

"Crucio!" Krum's voice was cold and clear.

Kari's screams filled the air and Harry snarled. Using Reducto on the hedge until enough of it was burned away that he could get through, stunning Krum before the wizard could work out that he was there. "Kari? Kari, are you alright?"

Kari shuddered, trapped in a memory.

"Kari!" Harry shook her, until she stopped shuddering and actually looked at him, "You ok?"

"Hurts a lot less then the last time." Kari staggered to her feet, "Send up sparks and let's leave him behind."

"Do you think he got Fleur?"

"No doubt about it." Kari kicked Krum and sent up sparks, "Let's go."

They reached a fork in the path and split up.

It was the two of them now, and if it wasn't for the rules stating that they couldn't help each other, they would have stuck together, but…

Harry turned a corner and came face to face with a sphinx.

"Wow, I have some friends who would love to meet you." He told her honestly.

* * *

Kari could swear that something was following her… the bushes were shaking and there was this odd clicking noise… and she knew that it wasn't another Champion because it was only her and Harry left in the running.

Dead ends around every corner. The point me spell wasn't as useful when it kept pointing you towards dead ends… there was light down the end of that tunnel… she snorted at the thought… and raced down it…

She barely dodged the spider that attacked her from the bushes. "I knew there was more!" She snarled, "Arania Exumai!" This spider was much bigger and didn't go flying half as far, scuttling towards her again.

"Apparaître!" She bellowed, calling on the deck that she hoped could hear her, all the way out there, and tugging on the magic that connected her to it, "Apparaître Dark Magician!" Her Dark Magician, the one with the dark blue robes appeared and blasted the spider, which rolled over, twitching.

 _"Have I ever mentioned to anyone how much I love my deck?"_ She wondered. "Thank you!" She told the Dark Magician as she ran forward, nimbly avoiding the rest of the spiders, only to nearly get pounced on by a humongous one that attack the moment she reached the clearing that had the Triwizard Cup in it.

She narrowly dodged back, only to find that Harry had distracted the beast long enough for her Dark Magician to blast it.

"You okay, Harry?" Kari asked, as Harry winced as he put the leg down that the spider's pincers had connected with. "You're bleeding."

"We have a job to do."

Kari paused, _"I hope you're proud of him Pharaoh!"_ She thought, and, with the Dark Magician supporting Harry, the pair touched the Triwizard Cup.

* * *

They knew the instant that it happened.

Yami was already gone, Yugi close behind, vaulting the barrier at the bottom of the stands, and Ombre was close behind.

"Mr Muto!" Professor Dumbledore didn't look amused as he saw they were down in the starting ring.

"Professor, they're gone." Yami growled.

"You mean?"

"We lost the mind link with Harry, there's not even a trace of it. That has to mean he's out of range!"

"Kari's gone." Ombre snapped as she joined them, "The link's gone."

"Could there be any other reason?"

"Short of them both being killed at exactly the same moment…?"

* * *

Kari's Dark Magician was gone.

They hadn't been in this strange graveyard more then a moment when someone had demanded that someone else 'kill the spare' and before they had known what was happening, the blue Dark Magician had thrown himself between the incoming killing curse and his Duellist and they had taken cover behind some of the headstones.

"Where's the cup?" Kari hissed, listening to the sound of approaching footsteps, pulling the Orb out from underneath her robes.

"Dunno, I dropped it when we landed." Harry told her.

"Harry, if something happens to me, make sure this gets back. Nothing else is important but the Orb has to go back to Ombre." She stood up and wheeled around, blasting the approaching Death Eater, for that was what she recognised him as, backwards with a wave of telekinesis.

"Lucius Malfoy," she snarled, "Expelliarmus!" The slimy git's wand went flying into Kari's hand. "You're behind this?" She demanded, holding him at wand point.

Lucius didn't say anything, watching the Orb swinging on its chain. "Malfoy!"

"Kari watch out!" Harry wheeled around, pushing himself, with difficulty, to his feet as he saw Wormtail approach, too slow to stop him.

"Avada Kedava!"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry bellowed.

Time slowed down, the spell left Wormtail's wand, a fraction before Harry's hit it, sending it flying, the green spell seemed to snake through the air, striking Kari in the back.

And she fell.

Only once Kari had hit the grass, unmoving, did time speed up again.


	20. Outbound Flight

Ombre collapsed, stopped from hitting the floor only by the reaction time of Dumbledore, as Yugi and Yami were currently held prisoner by the incredible wave of emotions that were surging through the link, so strong that even at this distance it could be felt.

If Yami had been able to think straight, he would have compared it to the waves of emotion that he'd gotten from Yugi while Yugi was in Egypt, but twenty times stronger… Harry was obviously closer.

As it was, the feelings swung from shock, horror, fear and finally settled on a cold rage that was the last feeling they received from Harry before their link to him went dead again.

"Mr Muto? Pharaoh?" Dumbledore was demanding… "What has happened?"

Yami just shook his head, unable to speak. Yugi looked at Yami, asking him to deny what he now feared and Yami couldn't… not until they knew everything… but all the signs pointed to…

"What?" Dumbledore asked.

"We think… we fear…" Yami had to swallow, and shook his head again, trying to get his thoughts coherent… "Kari may be dead."

"How could you know?"

"Harry… Ombre…" Yugi was just about as coherent as his partner, "Emotions…"

"Can I help?" Dumbledore asked in all seriousness, watching the way the two were acting.

"Clan." Yugi mumbled.

Dumbledore looked at Minerva, who nodded and headed towards the stands, where some of the Clan were already moving towards the exit, to come down into the ring.

"How sure are you?"

"We can't be… completely." Yami was beginning to force his brain to work, and was trying to pull himself together for Yugi's sake more then anything. "Not until Harry gets back…"

* * *

Harry had passed through shock, horror and fear during the ritual which had provided Voldemort with a new body.

He, just like Yami and Bakura, was now alive again…

Now only rage remained; a cold rage that burned brightly. Voldemort was laughing as he spoke, about how Dumbledore had failed, how the actions of the Pharaoh had made him more powerful then ever… Voldemort was glowing purple… according to the freak he was bound to the Shadow Realm by that piece of his soul that Yami had sent there…

Harry didn't care. He just wanted to get free from the ropes binding him and hurt Malfoy and Wormtail. He didn't even care how Wormtail had been broken out of prison…

Voldemort dared to touch Kari, attempting to take the Orb from her…

Harry snapped.

Before Voldemort knew what was going on, a huge golden wolf with great feathered wings had slammed into him, knocking him across the clearing, where the Death Eaters were gathered. Somehow Harry found himself free, but he didn't care right now…

Glowing with a white light, inside of which were strains of green and purple, Harry's light lashed out at the Death Eaters, who were knocked aside by the magic waves just as easily as Voldemort had been knocked aside by Harry's Wolf.

"Kill the damn thing!" Voldemort hissed. "But Potter is mine!"

Several Death Eaters tried, but it was hard to hit a moving target, especially when it didn't stay on the ground. The wolf snarled and bit Lucius, injuring his wand arm, before stalking a terrified Wormtail.

Harry's light was fighting with Voldemort's Shadows as Harry and Voldemort glowered at each other. "You won't touch her again." Harry snarled, sounding almost as feral as Gold Winged Wolf, who had bitten Wormtail's leg, bringing down the rat and causing the Death Eater to plead for his life as it snarled at him. Harry stood by Kari's side, refusing to move.

"Once you're dead, even that wolf of yours can't stop me from taking the Millennium Orb."

"You won't get it." Harry snapped, missing the fact that Voldemort had been unaware of the Orb's real name.

"Try and stop me, Avada Kedava!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The two spells collided in a shock wave that pushed everyone else back.

The two spells no longer looked like two spells, one red, one green, but one spell, a golden colour, which lifted the two combatants into a clear area.

Wolf just managed to dive in before they were surrounded by a cage of golden light, the Death Eater's spells bouncing off, their voices oddly muffled now…

"Do nothing unless I command it!" Voldemort demanded of the Death Eaters now circling.

There were beads of light on the golden cord now, and the closer the beads got to his wand, the harder it vibrated, until at one point he thought that it was going to snap. Somewhere, somehow, Harry could hear the Phoenix song, Fawkes' song, the one the Phoenix had used to wake Yugi in the Chamber and give Harry faith…

 _Concentrate human!_ Harry nearly lost the mental battle, until he felt Wolf's support…

His light flared and the beads contacted with Voldemort's wand.

At once Voldemort's wand screamed, as one by one, the shades… ghosts… whatever they were of Voldemort's victims, starting with Kari.

"Don't you dare give up." She told him, though her voice was distant and echoing, "Hold on a little longer."

More screams, and then an old man's shade, "He was a real wizard then?" The man looked surprised, "Keep fighting boy!"

The shade of a woman was next, "Hold on a little longer…" The three paced the outside of the shield, encouraging Harry and hissing something at Voldemort that Harry couldn't hear.

And now there was another shade, just as Harry had suspected there would be and another… his parents…

"When we tell you, break the connection and run, get the Portkey, it'll take you back to Hogwarts." Lily said. "We will give you time."

Voldemort looked terrified as his victims paced around him.

"Harry, the Orb."

"I'm taking you back." Harry promised Kari.

"Do it now, be ready to run…" James whispered, "Do it now!"

"Now!" Harry broke the connection and sprinted between the Death Eaters, Wolf overhead, the Phoenix song gone, the pain in his leg ignored…

"Stun them!" Voldemort screeched.

Wolf only just avoided being hit as he landed by Kari and Harry cast a couple of stunners of his own, before reaching her himself, "Accio Triwizard Cup!" He bellowed before grabbing Kari with one hand, wrapping the other arm around Wolf's neck… Wolf just managed to catch the cup with his teeth and to the sound of Voldemort's frustrated howling, they were gone.

* * *

"Harry!"

"Watch out for that animal!"

"It's a Duel Monster." Harry recognised the last voice and then there was ruby in his line of vision and amethyst to one side.

" _Harry?"_

_`Kari…`_

"Kari's…" Yugi trailed off.

Yami swore in Egyptian, ordering Wolf to sit down in his next breath and looking around for Professor Dumbledore. Yami easily recognised Harry's mental state for what it was; shock. Yugi had been through it many times before.

Wolf dropped the Cup and sat at Harry's side. Its presence, along with Yugi's warming light and Yami's comforting darkness, held him somewhere in the realms of sanity.

"Harry, you can let go of Kari now…"

"I promised… the Orb…"

"You're back at Hogwarts now, you can let go."

"I… she…" He let go.

"I'll take him Mr Muto."

"I really think…"

"The others are going to need you here…"

"But…"

Harry was led away despite Yami's protests. Harry would have said something, but he could sense that Wolf was following.

Besides, this was Professor Moody, right?

Yami was torn.

On one hand, it was Professor Moody… on the other hand… Dumbledore had told Moody not to take Harry…

"Yugi, we're going to get Harry." _'Maha…'_ He paused mid call, unsure what Kari's death would have done to Mana and unwilling to disturb Mahado if something had happened to his significant other.

Yugi, who was lost in his grief, just followed his dark, leaving the group who were being ushered up to the hospital wing and heading towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classrooms, they were joined, about halfway up the stairs, by Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor?"

"That's not Moody." Dumbledore confided in them, "Alastor Moody would never have removed Harry from my sight."

"I knew something wasn't right." Yami snarled as the reached the right floor and ran along the corridor to where Gold Winged Wolf was attempting to break down a door.

Yami opened the door and the wolf shot through, pouncing on the man who had been pointing his wand at Harry, pulling him over onto the ground, the wand having gone flying. It looked like Moody… but… Harry was too distracted by his Duel Monster Partner to notice the look Dumbledore was wearing, one that promised that he would 'deal' with this in a manner that wasn't exactly pleasant.

Dumbledore picked up Moody's hip-flask as Yami and Yugi reassured them selves that Harry was unharmed.

"Polyjuice potion." He growled as Snape and Flitwick joined them. He turned to Snape, "Get the strongest truth potion you have, Severus."

Snape left with an odd look at the three teens and the Duel Monster.

"If justice is not delivered for his crimes…" Yami warned with a low, terrifying growl.

"I understand, Pharaoh. He has wronged the Domino Clan, and as such you have rights of retribution." Dumbledore nodded. "You should stay and hear out the story."

They waited. By the time that Snape was back, the Polyjuice Potion had worn off, revealing a young man and Dumbledore had taken the keys for Moody's chest, revealing it to have several compartments, none of which held the Millennium Items, but one of which held the real Alastor Moody. Yugi threw down the imposter's cloak to Dumbledore, who had climbed into the trunk to check on the man, in an attempt to warm the rather grizzled looking man.

Snape stopped, stunned in the doorway… "Crouch!" He stared, "Barty Crouch?"

"Give me the vial, Severus." Dumbledore's voice was cold. "We'll find out the truth of the matter tonight."

* * *

There was silence in the Hospital Wing as Harry told his tale.

The Clan had to know, had to be told, but he was glad that Yami had suggested that Harry tell Dumbledore everything here, in the Hospital Wing, rather then going up to Dumbledore's office and then having to tell the Clan everything again later…

He couldn't face it.

There was no movement when he was done, for a good minute and a half, and then Solomon hugged his grandson and Sirius moved to Harry's bedside, much to Wolf's disgruntlement…

There was nothing that could be said, nothing they could change… shock hadn't yet given way to grief, but it would come…

Yugi snuggled into Yami, who held his hikari tightly and watched Ombre closely as she sat up, shuddering at the dead look in her eyes. Even if Kari hadn't been Ombre's hikari, the Princess had lost her sister forever…

If he'd lost Yugi like Ombre had lost Kari… he couldn't even think about it… He'd never let that happen, even if he had to guard him around the clock, he was determined he'd never lose Yugi again, neither to the Shadow Realm or to… the afterlife. He held his hikari tight as tears flowed down both Yugi's face and his own, grief finally settling in…

Kaiba held Mokuba close as the child cried, Kaiba barely held back his own tears, trying to remain calm for his brother's sake.

Kari and his little brother had become close very quickly, even when she'd first come to Domino, letting Mokuba play her games and giving the boy forbidden sugar. Kaiba had grown to respect, trust even… love Kari, seeing her change as the years had passed, what was it, about five years ago he'd met her now? It seemed like longer, it seemed like forever, and now she was gone, dead, murdered... He had to make sure he stayed strong though, for his brother's sake at least, maybe for the other Clan Members, too… after all, they were family now… someone had to be the support pillar in such times and Yugi was in no state to do the job.

Wolf nuzzled Harry, irritating Madam Pomfrey, who was trying to examine the teen. She glared at him and he glared back. _My human._ He snarled at her.

"Down Wolf." Harry murmured, "Good boy."

Wolf wasn't amused at being treated like a dog, but kept silent for the time being, aware that the Pharaoh was in the room, and as such he had to be on his best behaviour…

"Here." Madam Pomfrey bustled around, once she'd seen to Harry's injuries, passing around small vials, "You're all going to need this tonight. Dreamless sleep."

"I'll pass, thank you." Yami shook his head.

"Just this once, don't fight me on this, Mr Muto." Madam Pomfrey looked from Yami to Harry. The Pharaoh sighed and took the vial. "The Weasleys are around if you want to talk to them." She looked at Harry.

"N… Yes… let them in." Harry nodded as Madam Pomfrey turned to shoo them away.

Wolf took the opportunity to jump up onto Harry's bed, settling on half of it, one wing was dangling over the edge of the bed, the other was half shielding Harry. Madam Pomfrey, of course, went predictably nuts, shooing the wolf off of the bed, or attempting to.

The Weasley parents came in, offering condolences to those they knew, and met those that they didn't. "If there's anything we can do…" Arthur offered.

"Thank you Mr Weasley." Solomon bowed, "If we ever need help, we will know who to call."

"It's a duty and a pleasure Mr Muto." Arthur bowed back, "After all, have you not accepted two of my children? We're family too."

"All the same. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Arthur looked around, seeing the tears running down the cheeks of his youngest, and the unnaturally solemn way the twins were behaving. "Would you mind if we stayed with our children tonight, Mr Muto?"

"Not at all." If anything, Solomon welcomed it. All the children, even those who weren't really children, would need comfort and reassurance by the end of the night… all around the room, vials were downed, heads hit pillows and those worst hit by this tragedy fell asleep…

Wolf looked at Sirius, who stared back. "You don't like me very much do you?" The man asked the Duel Monster.

_You smell like a canine, but you're human._

"You can talk to me?"

_I talk to whoever I choose to talk to. When it concerns my human, it concerns me._

"His name is Harry, do you have a name?"

_Right, Harry is my human. And I have a name._

"May I call you it?"

_No._

Well that was simple enough, as Wolf settled back down, shielding Harry from view with his wings and settling down to sleep.

Solomon watched as the adults talked quietly, while the children slept the horrors away. He jumped a mile and found he wasn't the only one who drew his wand when the Dark Magician popped into the room. "Mahado?"

_Master Solomon. What has happened? The Pharaoh was in great distress, but he would not answer me, and now I find him asleep._

"I'm not your Master anymore, Mahado."

_But you were._

"How is Mana?"

_Shell shocked, but she seems like she will be fine, thank the Gods. It's true then, what Mana feared? Kari is indeed…?_

"I'm afraid so."

_I will make an offering to the Gods, in thanks that they didn't take Mana from me. I must go to her, she will need me. If you need my assistance, call me, though I see you have Duel Monster aid here already._

"That's Wolf, Harry's Partner Monster. There's a good chance that he saved Harry's life. He certainly helped save the Orb of Light. Can I pass a message along?"

 _When the Pharaoh wakes, I will speak with him myself._ Mahado shook his head. _Goodnight, Master Solomon._

"Goodnight Mahado." The Dark Magician left and Solomon sighed, wondering how many more people or Duel Monsters would be popping in. Boh, Yugi's Kuriboh was in a few moments later, cuddled into the pile that was Yami and Yugi sleeping on the same bed and went to sleep.

It seemed this had further reaching repercussions then just the depression of those in his extended family… and it looked like everyone wanted to help, in the best ways they could.

Seto and Yami were the first to awaken when the shouting started and Solomon shook his head when he saw that they were about to untangle themselves from the piles on their beds, heading over to the door himself. By the time he reached it, it was only Ron and Joey still asleep, though with the way that Wolf was stalking over to Joey's bed, he wouldn't be sleeping much longer.

Wolf's presence wasn't needed as the last two were rudely awakened by the Hospital Wing doors slamming open and Cornelius Fudge, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape following.

"Why are you disturbing my family?" Solomon demanded, as each Clan member sat up, blinking sleepily, Wolf returning to Harry's side to growl at Fudge.

"I have to question Potter!"

"You have a confession, from Barty Crouch."

"You can't believe the ravings of a lunatic!" Fudge snapped, "And I don't know if I'd trust the words out of Potter's mouth either! The boy's a parslemouth!"

"I suggest you leave, Minister Fudge." Solomon growled, as Yami untangled himself from the pile on the bed, remembering the article it had been mentioned in, and came to his Grandfather's side. "My grandson has been through a lot tonight and my family are grieving for the loss of a sister. I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight."

"But…"

"You want to see what happened?" Ombre demanded, holding the Orb of Light in hand, "You really think you're ready for the truth?"

"Of course I am."

"Harry, may I?"

"What are you going to…" Before he knew what was happening, Ombre had dragged the memory out of his mind, kicking and screaming, and it was on display to all in the room… from the moment the Portkey had taken them from the grounds to the time that it returned them…

Harry whimpered as he was forced to watch Kari's death again, and found himself supported both mentally and physically by Wolf, Yugi and Yami.

The battle, Yami's confidence took a hit as he realised exactly what he had done… he'd given Voldemort the Shadows… him and no one else…

The memory ended and they were back in the hospital wing.

"That is what happened, Mr Fudge," Ombre snapped, "I lost my hikari tonight, do not treat her death as something casual, or…"

"Ombre." Yami snapped at her, he watched her fight to force her temper down, prepared to act if necessary.

"But he can't be back."

"He is…"

"You're all raving lunatics!"

"How can you not see what is in front of your eyes?" Dumbledore demanded.

"It was an illusion, a trick!"

"Get out!" Ombre screeched, magic flaring.

Fudge fled.

"Ombre, calm yourself!" Yami wheeled around; surprised to find Yugi helping him, offering his magic to tie into the spell cage he wove around the princess to contain her errant magic. It wasn't something he liked doing, and he knew that Yugi hated it, but it was working, as Ombre finally calmed down enough for the aura to fade and led back on the bed, miserable.

"Let's continue this conversation outside." Dumbledore said, "Go back to bed Mr Muto." He said looking at Yami, who nodded, lifted the cage on Ombre, and slipped back into place on the bed.

It wasn't long before Madam Pomfrey was around again, and though they could still hear the shouting going on, it didn't disturb them, and soon they were all asleep again.

* * *

When Harry woke up the next morning, it was to find that he was the last to do so and that the sun was already up.

_Morning human._

"Good morning Wolf." Harry murmured, sitting up.

The sound of Harry's voice caused everyone to turn to look in his direction. "Morning Harry." Yugi's voice was heavy, his normally bright amethyst eyes dull, "Breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry." Harry shook his head. "Thank you."

"Harry." Harry turned to look at Solomon, "We're going to have to leave soon," He indicated himself, Sirius, and the older Weasleys. "But there are a few things we need to talk about first."

Harry nodded as Wolf jumped down and stretched, looking at Solomon.

"Minister Fudge is refusing to admit that Voldemort has returned, or that Wormtail has escaped from Azkaban. Apparently Barty Crouch has been returned to Azkaban, until further notice, as he's unable to testify on his own behalf due to his insanity, quite possibly brought on by the effects of Dementors…"

"Which there are currently no known swarms of because of the incident over the Summer… right?" Hermione asked. "When they abandoned their posts?"

Yami snarled, but it didn't have the venom that Harry would have expected. If the Pharaoh was honest with himself, he had been afraid of such a reaction after Fudge's words last night.

Solomon nodded, picking up a bag from the floor by the chair he had been sat in, "The prize money."

"I don't want it." Harry shook his head, "Ombre should have it."

"She doesn't want it either." The prize money sat on the table at the end of Harry's bed and everyone watched it like it was going to jump up at them.

Why did it felt like it was blood money, paid by the Ministry on behalf of Crouch, because they refused to admit who Kari's real killers were?

"The school has been informed that it would be in their best interests to leave you lot alone, but there's going to be people with questions, so you're going to have people trying to crowd you. Mahado's already offered the Monster's Wing if you need to get away."

' _Thank you Mahado.'_

_You're welcome Pharaoh._

"The Daily Prophet released an article this morning," Sirius warned, "Stating that Lucius Malfoy is to blame for Kari's death. It's a lot easier to blame a convict that escaped from a prison in another country then admit that someone you announced was dead, had been living under your nose the whole time." He sounded disgusted.

"But it was Wormtail!" Harry protested.

"I know, kiddo." Sirius sighed.

"The Ministry are refusing to admit that they could possibly have two breakouts this close together."

"I'm staying in England until I've finished the funeral arrangements." Solomon sighed.

"If we're unable to hold it before the end of term, you may all come to stay with me." Sirius said.

"Thank you." Kaiba nodded, looking up from his laptop as Mokuba cuddled into his Blue Eyes White Chick.

"I'll pull you all out of school for the funeral, and let you know if there's anything in the will that concerns you."

"Kari wrote a will?"

"So Professor Dumbledore says."

"Grandpa. Was there a letter for us?" Yami asked, "It would have come with the post owls this morning?"

"Yes, actually." Solomon handed it over.

Yami skimmed it, and then passed it to Yugi. "It's all arranged then." Yugi breathed, "The exhibit's a month long, starting as of Monday the Fourth of June, and ending on August fifth…"

"Fits around India quite nicely." Seto nodded, then looked at Joey, "I'll talk to you later about dates."

Joey nodded as Yami sighed and leant back, thinking, "I'm going to apologise to Isuzu."

"Yami?" Joey frowned.

"With Voldemort back, this is no time to be seeking my memories."

"Yami… you shouldn't…"

"I've made up my mind."

Silence…

"We'll see you all later on in the week." Solomon said, "You behave." He told Wolf, who gave him the most affronted look possible for a wolf to give. He hugged all of his grandchildren and left. Sirius paused to ruffle Harry's hair and followed. Mr and Mrs Weasley hugged their children and the older Weasley nodded to the group, and then they too left, leaving the Clan in the room alone.

* * *

Everyone deals with grief in different ways.

The traditional Japanese method was to hide it, and to only show it in private, around family, for grief belittles the dead. This method of mourning was getting them through, day by day, as those who were good at it supported those who weren't, and those who weren't were often too drained by the time those that were, were alone and able too to do anything but give their support or sleep.

But it wasn't easy, returning to class and homework and everything normal.

They had the Monster's Wing to retreat to, and it always felt like a retreat, from sympathy or prying eyes or the accusations that Harry had in some way caused Kari's death. Of course no one would accuse him directly, after all, who would kill one of their best friends over some Tournament?

Hermione was trying to follow the ways of her Japanese friends, allowing her to focus in class, allowing her to help the others as she always had, and allowed her to break down when it was just her family, when no one would think less of her, or tease her, or look at her oddly.

The only ones who could see her grieve were people who were grieving themselves, suffering together but to the outside world, keeping each other strong.

The Duel Monsters had offered their rooms, but the small family more often then not found themselves sleeping where they sat or stood, the one instance of Yugi falling asleep on the windowsill had been less then fun, and Yami was still thanking Kisara for her alertness.

The funeral date had been set, and they would be leaving Hogwarts a day early, as the funeral would fall on the day of the leaving feast, and in her will, Kari had asked that her family be able to hold a Wake if they had wanted to.

Professor McGonagall slipped into the Monster's Wing, where the Gryffindor Eig…Seven and a few others were taking refuge, unwilling to face the school.

Only two of the nine students reacted, their heads turning to face her and giving her a confused look.

The rest were so lost in their grief that they didn't react, even when she walked to the centre of their group, standing in the middle of a circle of grief stricken and lost teenagers.

"I know it's a bad time, but I need to speak to you all."

A pair of amethyst eyes, two pairs of brown eyes, a pair of smoky grey eyes and a striking green pair of eyes joined the ruby and deep blue ones watching her. The magenta eyes and the other pair of brown eyes, the ones she'd hoped to catch, were too deep in their pain to hear her.

"Ombre, Hermione." Professor McGonagall spoke softly, the two looked up.

"What is it Professor?" Yami asked.

"There are a couple of things I need to tell you." She started, "First of all, none of you are required to attend the end of year examinations, Harry, you have permission as a Champion and the rest of you have been given special permission because of recent events."

Yami snorted, they'd all missed their first exams anyway, this just meant that they wouldn't be expelled for failing to turn up.

"Also, Kari left these for you all and asked me to…" Surprise crossed a couple of the Clan members' faces as the Professor's voice cracked, she took a deep breath, centring herself, and continued, "Pass them around if something should happen to her."

She handed out the letters and left, wiping her face as she did so.

Ombre was the first to open hers, fresh tears flowing as she read the letter.

**_To Ombre,_ **

**_We knew it was coming, but I guess you thought… oh it doesn't matter anymore._ **

**_Sorry I had to leave permanently before we could find out everything, the Orb is yours now, I have no more use for it._ **

**_I'm sorry. I don't know what you had to give up to save me from the Shadows, but it wasn't worth it, not for just over a year. I wish I could give whatever it was back to you but…_ **

**_I'm sorry, if I'd listened to Robyn, realised sooner what she was trying to tell me, I wouldn't be leaving now._ **

**_Ombre, I ask of you again, please, look after Hermione. I know that you shouldn't go crazy without me, so I know this request is within your capabilities, so please, know what it's been like for her, the others don't realise just how hard it can be sometimes, don't leave her alone._ **

**_I didn't want to leave you, but I was too stubborn and too stupid to see that which was in front of my nose and I can't just leave Harry to whatever is going to happen when we vanish._ **

**_I guess all I have to say is that I'm sorry and I'll see you during the next life._ **

**_Goodbye for now,_ **

**_Kari._ **

Staring at that third from last line… Kari hadn't done anything that Ombre wouldn't forgive her for, and the Princess prayed with all her might that her hik… partner hadn't returned to the… oh Gods… Ombre left the Monster's Wing before she could break down completely.

She didn't want the others to know the truth, to know what she'd had to do… to know that they should have been mourning over a year ago…

"Miss Ironhide." Ombre looked around, trying to control herself, and found herself looking at Robyn, who was giving her an irritated look and waving… a letter… "Would you like to explain this?"

Kari had known… Kari had known… and she'd told Robyn…

"Wh…What do you mean?"

"What were you thinking?"

Oh gods… "I was panicking. I don't even know if Kari'll be reincarnated, because I couldn't save all of her from the Shadow Realm… I managed to get fragments… but…everything else was memories."

"I think we should take this conversation to my office." Robyn frowned, leading the panicked spirit to the office, shutting the door and pouring two hot chocolates. "Now explain."

Ombre took a deep breath, not really wanting to explain, but knowing that she couldn't hold anything back if Kari hadn't… it wouldn't be right, or fair.

"When Kari collapsed in her Shadow Game against Bakura, her soul was shredded. Her body carried on living, but her soul died. We were in the hospital wing so long because I was fighting to recover the fragments of her soul, in the end I had to make an offer, giving up a lot of the really ancient memories, ones that could help Yami, to recover the few fragments I could."

"But soul fragments wouldn't have been able to…"

"That's where the Orb came in." Ombre held up her hand, wanting to explain without interruption, this was hard enough as it was. "The Orb makes duplicates of the wielder's memories without any commands, I used those memories, along with the life magic of the Orb to bind the fragments together with the memories and created the Kari that's been roaming around since."

"So everything she's done or said since has been a lie."

"No." Ombre shook her head, "It's… It was still Kari, people are defined by their souls and their memories. She still had parts of her soul, and she had all of her memories, so she was still Kari even if…"

"Thank you."

"What?" That wasn't the reaction she'd been expecting. "But…"

"You did it because you didn't want to be left alone again. I know." Robyn said shakily, "But if you hadn't, I couldn't have met Kari again and we couldn't have forgiven each other. For that I have to thank you."

"I don't want the others to know."

Robyn smiled sadly. "I understand, weary hearts can take no more strain. But mayhaps it will lighten your load to know this, if a soul can be divided and still be as bright as Yugi's I have no doubt that Kari's will shine again."

"It helps." Ombre nodded, smiling sadly back. "Will you be at the funeral?"

"I would rather say my goodbyes privately, but yes, I will be there."

"There's the wake the night before, for close friends and family, but if you don't want to come I'm sure Grandpa would tell you where she's resting until the funeral if you ask him."

Robyn nodded, "I'm sure the others will have read their letters by now. They'll need your support."

Ombre nodded, taking that as a sign to leave and standing up. She hesitated a moment, knowing what she wanted to say but unsure how to do it. "Robyn…" She paused, wondering if Robyn could forgive her for failing in her duty and unsure if she could it if she couldn't.

"Forgive yourself first."

"Then live. It's what Kari would have wanted."

* * *

I see them in the front row, and I realise that these were the people who saw my daughter in her last few hours in her life.

I recognise a few of them from TV. I started watching the Tournaments because I was sick about hearing about my daughter's duels without being able to see them myself.

Closest to the aisle is Yugi and Yami Muto, the Kings of Games. The Muto twins sticking close together, as the taller one, Yami, comforted his smaller sibling. On their left, is an elderly gentleman, who, from the way the twins were acting, had to be their Grandfather.

Yami, Yugi, Mr Muto, the blonde next to them is that Joey Wheeler guy my daughter was all over at that tournament a couple of years ago. He's unashamedly letting tears fall… perhaps there was more there then I thought there was…

The 'cheerleaders' are next to him, I don't think many people know their names… I'm sure the girl was in a dance show in America, but other then that I have no idea.

Next to them are some children I've never seen before, a messy raven haired boy, a man, the boy's father perhaps, a bushy brunette girl and between that row and the one behind, a bunch of red heads, all at various ages. Were they friends that my daughter made when she went to that school in Scotland? I certainly don't recognise them from the photos that used to come home with her.

Sat next to the bushy brunette is Ombre, the girl claiming to be the twin sister of my daughter. I recognise her easily, through there's something now in her demeanour that she didn't have the first time we met her… I hope her friends are there for her, because she certainly wouldn't accept my help anymore.

She'll need someone to be there for her now though, if she and my daughter were as close as I think they were.

Sat behind the Muto twins and Joseph Wheeler and at the end of the line of red heads are Seto and Mokuba Kaiba. I saw them come in; even the cold Ice Prince of Kaiba Corp was allowing himself to feel emotion...

Why would my daughter's employer come to her funeral? There's no need for them to be here…

And yet, through Yami Muto and Joseph Wheeler both can't stand Kaiba, they just nodded and accepted the presence of the Kaibas, even going as far as to move up to let them sit on the front row.

Somewhere in here is Robyn, she slipped in just before the thing started. She seems to be staying away from all the people that Kari considered a friend for the last four years.

Behind the close friends, are rows of friends and friend's families that I have never met in my entire life.

I can't help wondering why I'm here.

Kari was my daughter, that much was true, but we hadn't spoken in over a year, had been falling out for many more… those in the front rows were more her family then I had been.

Mr Muto had invited me to the wake that was held last night, and I attended but, there too, I had felt like an outsider, as the 'Clan' that my daughter had helped found, keep close, sharing very few words, but just comforting each other.

I had been unable to offer any comfort, as I hadn't felt the grief that they had.

I'd already mourned the loss of my daughter when she'd moved to Japan and that was almost five years ago. Now it just felt like I was going through the motions.

The will had specifically detailed what she wanted to happen; I didn't even get to say where she was going to be buried. She'd asked for a cremation and then she wanted her ashes scattered in Domino, her home, her real home, after I'd pushed her away.

Most of the funeral passed in a blur, as person after person sang the praises of a daughter I'd never really known, never really tried to get to know once her brother had died… if I'd been nicer, would she have left?

 **** _When daytime turns to night_  
When the moon shines bright  
When you're tucked in tight  
And everything is alright

 **** _Slip softly to that place_  
Where secret thoughts run free  
There come face to face  
With who you want to be

Would she be…?

Everyone stood as the coffin was lowered…

 **** _So swim across the ocean blue_  
Fly a rocket to the moon  
You can change your life  
Or you can change the world

****_Take the chance, don't be afraid  
Life is yours to live  
Take a chance and then the best has yet to come_

Yugi's shoulders sank, turning his face away, tears falling. Yami hugged him tightly and Solomon put his hand on his grandson's shoulder, whispering something in Yugi's ear that made the young man turn to where the coffin had been led, trying to be strong...

 **** _Make a wish, it's up to you_  
Find the strength inside  
And watch your dreams come true  
You don't need a shooting star  
the magic's right there in your heart  
Close your eyes  
Believe and make a wish

The bushy haired girl clung to Ombre, sobs clear, as the coffin vanished out of sight, the woman's only response, to hug the girl tightly.

Joey's fists clenched into fists, and the younger Kaiba brother leant into his brother, who responded by putting his hand on his brother's shoulder.

The red heads were supporting each other, as the raven haired teen found himself hugged by the man I supposed was his father, and Yugi's cheerleaders supported each other.

 **** _Chiisaki mono sore wa watashi_  
Watashi desu magire naku  
Kagami no naka kokorobososa dake ga  
Dare ni makenai asticksa ni naru yo

 **** _Sostickse watashi wa osanai koro ni_  
Sukoshizutsu modotte yuku  
Imi mo shirazu utau koi no uta o  
Hometekureta ano hi ni

 **** _Sora o ao geba_  
Michite kuru watashi no koe ga  
Sara sara nagaru kaze no naka de kimi mo  
Fuwari mai agare

 **** _koe ga kikoeru_  
yukubeki michi yubisastickse iru  
Sara sara nagaru kaze no naka de hitori  
Watashi utatte imasu

Robyn was on her own, tears falling and as my husband held my hand, I caught her gaze and saw her recoil from me…

She knew, as I did, that if we hadn't pushed Kari away, she would never have gone to Japan, would never have been at that school… she wouldn't have died… not then…

****_I've always hoped for happiness  
And finally fulfilled my wish  
'Cos I just need to see you smile_

The Clan filed out first, and as we left, Mr Muto, the one my daughter called Grandfather, offered his condolences and for a moment, once he'd shaken hands with my husband, bowed to me and turned to support his family, I could see why she'd picked him over us, why she would leave us for him…

 **** _Sora o (Make a wish)_  
Ao geba (It's up to you)  
Michite kuru watashi no koe ga (Watch your dreams come true)  
Sara sara nagaru kaze no naka de kimi mo  
(The magic's right there in your heart)  
Fuwari mai agare (Believe and...)

 **** _Make a wish, it's up to you_  
Find the strength inside  
And watch your dreams come true  
You don't need a shooting star  
the magic's right there in your heart  
Close your eyes  
Believe and make a wish...

He wouldn't abandon them when they were grieving, they wouldn't push them away because they weren't as good as the one that had gone…

Oh we'd grieve for a while, but life for us would return to how it had been before. We'd lost one child in the accident, and when Kari had left, it had been no surprise.

At least now she could be happy, with her real twin…

Kari, my daughter, my dearest daughter, I hope that wherever you are now, whatever you're doing in heaven, you're happier then you were here on Earth.

And I hope the boy you gave your life to save is worth it.

She hated goodbyes.

* * *

She hated airports.

And she hated saying goodbye to her family, never knowing if they'd get into trouble over the summer…

So many times her family had nearly been killed while she had been safe in England, far away from the danger…

Everyone was quiet, as they gathered for the last time before the split ways, heading in different directions for the Summer.

The group from Japan were heading back via a corporate airplane of Seto's, Harry, Wolf and Sirius were going on holiday, Ron would be back with his family at the Burrow and she… she would be alone with her books.

"You will tell us if you change your mind, right?" She asked Yami.

He gave a non committal grunt, causing her shoulders to sink. "We'll see each other soon."

"Yeah, it's only a couple of months." Joey tried to cheer them up, "We'll be back causing chaos before you know it."

It didn't help, and everyone fell silent.

"Just promise me that if anything happens, you'll call, please. I'm sick of being left out of the loop." She complained, "Please?"

"I'll try to keep in contact." Ombre nodded, magenta eyes catching hers, "Hopefully I won't get kidnapped again this year."

"I won't promise, every time I do, something happens to stop me." Yugi complained, "But I'll do my best."

"I'll send postcards." Harry promised.

"I'm sure mum will invite you around." Ron said, "And if she doesn't I'll badger her until she does."

"Thanks."

"You sure you're going to be alright?" Sirius asked Ombre, who just nodded.

"Harry, we'll be in touch…" Yami said, looking at the young man who looked as if he was dreading what was to come.

Of course Harry would be. His link partners were heading out of range, he'd be alone in his head, other then Wolf of course, for the first time in just under ten months, she could imagine that it would be very quiet… but then he wasn't the only one who was suffering from that…

Hermione turned to look at Ombre, who was watching them all with an odd expression. If Harry was feeling rotten because he would be without his link partners for a couple of months, she didn't want to think about how bad Ombre had to be feeling…

She hugged her friend, offering a hopeful smile.

Ombre just gave a watery one back.

"Last call for the 14:30 Air France flight to Paris."

"That's us, kiddo." Sirius turned to Harry.

"Bye guys."

"You have that mobile phone, right?" Mokuba asked.

"Uh huh." Harry pulled it out of his back pocket, "You sure it's alright for me to be hooked up to the Kaiba Corp network?"

"If I say it is." Seto snorted.

"Harry." Sirius warned.

"See you during the summer?" Harry asked.

"Sure, give us a heads up and we'll meet you at the airport." Yugi nodded.

"Later everyone." Harry and Sirius left.

"We'd better go or we'll miss our opening." Seto growled, ushering Mokuba away.

"Bye then…" Hermione frowned.

"You're welcome at any time, Hermione." Solomon said, "Let's go." He said looking at the rest of the group.

"Bye…"

"See you later."

The group drifted away, Hermione reaching her parents in time to turn and wave at the group who were just vanishing around a corner.

Ron waved at her from where he was stood with his family.

It was going to be a long summer.

* * *

Yugi was thinking hard and listening to Seto rant about delays with the flight. Something was plaguing him, and he couldn't work out what it was. Thinking straight hadn't exactly been easy for the past week; everything even remotely important had slipped his mind.

"I feel like we're forgetting something important." He frowned, as they started taxiing up the runway, turning to watch the ground pass them by, only to see a woman standing on the grass. "How did Robyn get out on the runway?" He asked, causing Yami to look, "And what is… oh."

She was waving something golden at them, Yami recognised it instantly, and as Yami started banging his head on his seat, Yugi's eyes widened as he recognised what she was holding and read the sign she was holding up, which said, "Don't worry, going into hiding this summer."

"How did she get her hands on the missing Millennium Items?" Yugi asked as the plane left the ground. "Do you think she stole them from whoever stole them from us?"

"I think Robyn is always going to be six steps ahead of us." Yami groaned. "Do you think we can get her to be less helpful next year?"

"Robyn's a lot less dangerous then Dobby." Yugi pointed out, feeling slightly better now he knew where the Rod, the Eye and the Necklace were.

"Still…" Yami sighed, leaning back. Planes were not a safe method of transport. He trusted broomsticks and dragons more then he trusted these mechanised birds. He had made his thoughts on this matter clear before. It just wasn't worth covering them again.

"At least we know where they are. Robyn's unlikely to come after us to try to win the ability to control their powers." Yugi said, and was suddenly assaulted by the mental image of a 'Yami Robyn' fighting against Yami for the Millennium Items. He shook his head. There were times he hated having a vivid imagination.

"Don't tempt fate please Yugi." Yami scowled at him.

"Shutting up." Yugi agreed as he leant back into his chair, stretching as he did so, thinking of everything they were planning to do and trying not to think of how much Kari had been looking forward to it…

It was going to be hard, but they'd get through this summer.

And hey, they had India to look forward to…


	21. EXTRA: Battle Royale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I firmly blame this chapter on the crazy at the end of chapter 18

"You lost, Seto." Joey crowed, as the shock wore off and everyone started reacting again.

Seto paused, shook his head and smirked, "The best villains never admit defeat."

Joey was taken aback for a second, then glared, "So you're refusing to admit defeat?"

"Of course. Why would I hand over my prisoners because I lost one game?" Seto smirked, "The Princes aren't like your precious Millennium Items. I haven't lost the ability to hold them prisoner just because I've lost." Kaiba's smirk grew bigger, as he pulled his wand out of his back pocket, "It's not my fault that you've been hanging around them so long that you've forgotten that there are other methods of defeating people, then just at cards."

"You're actually trying to start a battle…" Kari frowned, confused.

"I'm not afraid to fight you, traitor." Joey drew his wand.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for the kingdom."

"By overthrowing it?"

"By building it anew."

"I won't let you."

"You can't defeat me alone." Seto snorted.

"He isn't alone. He has me." Harry wasn't quiet sure what was going on, or where the words had come from, but the teasing seemed to have passed out of the realm of fun and into something else entirely… however he was on Yami and Yugi's side and as such that put him on Joey's.

"I stand with my brother." Mokuba growled at Harry.

Before anyone had worked out what exactly was going on, they were polarised, on Joey's side, or Seto's. There had been a moment where Kari had been torn by indecision, settling on Seto's side only because she worked for him, but everyone else had seemed to know instinctively which side they belonged to.

"Five minutes." Seto warned and led his group off.

Joey paused and blinked. "What happened there?" He asked, completely confused.

"As far as I can tell, you've just agreed to lead us in a pitched battle." Harry said, "And I'm not a hundred percent sure why."

"I dunno… I got a bit carried away I think." Joey looked surprised at himself.

"What did he mean by five minutes?"

"We have five minutes before we're going to come under attack."

"So what's the plan?"

"Well, I'm guessing that the 'game' is going to be over when we reach the top floor of Dragon Tower, or we're all defeated." Joey said, frowning.

"But Robyn'll kill us if we wake them up." Hermione frowned.

"That's easy." Joey nodded, "Harry, is the dorm window open?"

"Uh huh." Harry nodded… "Oh, accio?"

"Uh huh, not up to the very top floor, but as close as you can get."

"Right."

"In the mean time, we'll distract them by attacking the front of the castle." Joey said, looking at Hermione, Ron, Ombre and Rebecca. "Seto will probably be sending someone up to guard the tower, if we can get there first we can win."

"Joey?"

"Fire only once you're sure of who you're aiming at, we'll get into a lot of trouble if we hit the wrong person. Harry, I don't want you dragged into an aerial battle. If you're attacked in the air, come down and join the front line. Getting into a fight at that height would be too dangerous."

"Right." Harry nodded, pulling out his wand, "Accio Firebolt."

As the broomstick arrived at Harry's side, Joey pointed out tactical places they could take for the assault on the door.

"Ready?" Joey asked.

Everyone nodded in return.

"Here we go then…"

* * *

Mokuba was surprised that Joey hadn't had his lot storm the front door when he'd realised that Kisara was guarding the tower. He and Ginny were holding the doors, while Kisara guarded the tower, Seto was holding the stairwell, on the floor where the Monster's Wing kicked in, Kari was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, Luna was outside, sneaking around the back of Joey's lot and they had all Apparaître summoned a bunch of flying creatures to guard the windows. The only way in was to come through the front doors… so why weren't they…?

"Mokuba!" Ginny yelped.

Mokuba ducked, narrowly missing getting hit by a spell, firing off two of his own as he finally spotted where they had taken shelter.

"I can't believe your brother started a war with Joey!" Ginny complained, between hexes.

"I'm surprised it hasn't come to this sooner." Mokuba laughed, "Talk about a way to blow off steam." He ducked an incoming charm and cast a leg-locker curse.

"What's going on here?"

"Hold Fire!" Mokuba heard Joey yell, turning around to look at who had asked the question and suddenly grateful that the young man had spotted the professor.

"It's a training exercise and a way to blow off steam, Professor Moody." Mokuba said, "Joey's team have to reach the top floor of Dragon Tower, and it's our job to stop them."

"The two of you against an entire team?"

"No, our team's spread out a bit more but we have around the same amount of people…"

* * *

"What's the story here?"

Joey winced and was glad that Mokuba had stopped firing when he'd realised who he'd nearly hit with a Full-Body Bind as he turned to face Miss Golden, who didn't look amused in the slightest.

"Vizier Seto has taken the Princes prisoner and we're trying to rescue them." Hermione said, with a giggle. "Joey's leading us in an assault against the castle in order to save them."

"And where exactly did this idea come from?"

"You telling us not to disturb them."

"So not disturbing them involves turning the castle into a full scale battlefield?"

"Umm… guess so…"

Robyn frowned at them for a moment, "Would it not be easier to go in a window?"

"Kisara's guarding the tower and Tobias is leading a bunch of our Duel Monsters in a clean up of the monsters guarding the windows, if we can free up a department, we can get in that way."

"So this is a distraction?"

Joey glanced at Mokuba and Ginny, who were waiting for Miss Golden to leave before they started up again, "Uh huh."

"Who's going to go in through the window once it's clear?" Robyn looked interested.

"Me." Harry said, "I tried going up the tower on my broomstick but Kisara chased me off."

"On your own?"

"No, I'm going with him." Hermione looked a little uncomfortable, "I'm borrowing Ron's broom stick."

"The attention is going to be on where the leader of the group is." Joey explained, "Meanwhile we can send a small group around the back and sneak up behind them."

"It's not our usual style of tactics but it's an unusual situation." Hermione defended it.

"It's just a little more Slytherin then I would have expected from you."

"The only other way we could see was to raid the front door and I know that won't work." Joey said with an odd expression on his face. "Seto's not going to make this easy."

"He wouldn't make a very good villain if he did." Ombre pointed out.

"True…" Joey conceded.

"You want to join in?" Hermione asked Robyn spontaneously, remembering that the woman was Kari's friend, and that Kari would probably mind if someone didn't offer a place on their team.

Robyn's eyes flickered across them, clearly considering.

"The more the merrier." Joey nodded, quite happy to have any help he could get against Seto.

Harry looked away to where Tobias was using his Inferno Fire Blast to flame something that looked like a Petite Dragon out of the sky. The air looked a little clearer, but it still wouldn't be safe yet…

* * *

Mokuba was frowning, unsure what was going on, was it over already? Professor Moody hadn't said anything against the battle.

No it wasn't over, Joey wouldn't give up that easily… they'd just have to be more careful.

"What?" Mokuba ducked as a spell came his way. "Hey, no fair!" Mokuba bellowed, as he took cover, "I thought we weren't firing when there were neutrals around!?"

He could hear someone giggling and poked his head around the door only to find that Robyn had her wand drawn. "Oh."

"Ready?" Ginny asked him, from behind the other door.

"I'll hold the doors, you go and get Kari. Hopefully Luna's going to sneak up behind them in a minute and then…" Mokuba stopped when he heard Hermione squeak and Ron yell.

"Now." Mokuba grinned, getting a few shots off before he had to take cover again.

"She alright?" Ginny worried as it went quiet outside.

Luna swooped through the doors and into the Great Hall on Harry's broomstick, giggling the entire time.

"Guess so."

"Wait…"

"Yes that was Harry's broomstick and yes she did just fly into the Great Hall."

"Uh oh."

Ginny rushed over to the Great Hall, while Mokuba attempted to hold back the invaders who managed to push him back to the Great Hall's doors. Kari, spotting a spell go flying past, rushed forward and cast a couple of her own, as Luna swooped back out of the Great Hall, cackling and casting spells from overhead and swooped up the staircase.

Before anyone was sure exactly what was going on, Joey's forces were being pushed back by a group in blue and bronze, ending up back outside. Kari and one of the Ravenclaws held the door as Mokuba tried to work out exactly what to do with the new troops.

"Did we just get pushed out of the school by a group of random Ravenclaws?" Joey asked, frowning as he was finally able to take a break from counter hexing.

"I suppose it did look like we were attacking the school."

"Okay, but how do we get a bunch of recruits?" Ron asked, "We can't win if we can't get into the castle."

"Well the problem is that everyone's at breakfast," Ombre groaned, "So unless we can get in there and explain to the Gryffindors what's going on, we're not going to get much support."

Hermione frowned and looked around, "Where's Robyn?"

Robyn had been in the Great Hall, speaking with Fred and George, but when the Gryffindors that Fred and George had called up had started battling with Seto's lot, Robyn had taken the opportunity to sneak up the stairs, unfortunately she'd been followed.

"Robyn!" Kari giggled, from a flight of stairs down, as the young woman reached the second floor. "I won't let you get any further!"

Robyn smiled slightly as she turned to face her friend, "You're on the wrong side, aren't you?"

"Maybe." Kari agreed, "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to let you rescue the Princes."

"You can't stop me."

"Wanna bet?" Kari giggled, racing up the next flight of stairs, Robyn laughed and ran up the next flight too, but they were half way up them when they started moving, leaving the two heading in completely different directions.

"I told you so." Robyn grinned and dashed up the stairs, while Kari turned down the corridor to find another route to the next floor.

* * *

Meanwhile, a huge battle had erupted on the ground floor, spilling into the dungeons, the grounds and the first floor, as the Hufflepuffs divided evenly between the two factions, the Gryffindors teamed up with Joey's forces, the remaining Ravenclaws weren't having any of that and had joined up with Seto's forces, and the Slytherins, under the command of Bakura, were undermining both sides equally.

Joey had managed to push his way to the top of the second floor staircase, along with Ryou and Ombre, while Hermione had already shot up the stairwell, on Ron's broom, heading for the seventh floor.

"Get Wheeler!" Joey ducked under an incoming spell, "Don't let him reach the fifth floor!"

"Ombre, Ryou." Joey grinned, "Dragon Tower has a third route in, other then the windows and the Monster's Wing, head for the seventh floor, there's a painting with dragons on, the wizard on it is the door keeper, you'll end up about a third of the way up."

"Good luck." Ombre nodded, shooting up the stairs.

Ryou and Ombre shot up the stairs, and Joey turned back to the battle.

Over the noise of the battle in the hallway, he didn't hear Dumbledore bellow for silence, and he certainly didn't realise that the teachers were getting involved, at least not until he'd nearly hit Professor Flitwick with a Full-Body Bind and lost five house points for it.

"Uh oh." Joey grimaced.

"I want the instigators of this downstairs immediately!" Now he could hear Dumbledore clearly and slunk down the stairs, coming face to face with the irate Professor.

"What's going on here?" Dumbledore demanded of the students in front of him, which consisted of Joey, Harry, Ron, Rebecca and Mokuba. It worried Joey that Draco and Bakura were no where to be seen and that meant that there was a high probability of them making their way up the staircase.

"Well you see Professor…"

* * *

"I don't think so!" Luna giggled as she and Hermione flew upwards. Luna was faster of course, and they landed on the sixth floor walkways, so they could battle properly, since neither of them wanted to fall all the way down.

Silence had fallen below them and Hermione gave Luna a confused look, and they both looked over the railing.

They couldn't see anything though, and they turned to each other.

"Join our side, Hermione, you can't win."

"All I have to do it get to the portrait and we'll win."

You have to get past me first."

Hermione checked, Luna was right; she was between Hermione and the set of stairs that led upwards.

"Petrificus Totalus!" They intoned at the same time and both ducked. Hermione's rebounded off of a set of armour and bounced into a wall, while Luna's hit a portrait, which looked less then amused.

"Locomotor Mortis!" Luna called.

"Protego!" The spell splattered over Hermione's shield charm, but did nothing to the girl inside the shield, "Impedimenta!"

"Incarcerous!" Hermione couldn't dodge fast enough since she was still mid incantation, and though Luna was hit by the slowing spell, Hermione found herself tied up and falling over, dropping her wand as she hit the stone. "Sorry Hermione, but I'm on Seto's side. I'm not just going to let you win."

The sounds resumed from downstairs.

"Guess it was a respite." Luna giggled as she picked up Hermione's wand. "Now, what do I do about you?"

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?"

Robyn paused as she was confronted by Bakura Malfoy. She looked at him for a moment, before asking, "And whose side are you on?"

"My own." Bakura laughed, "I don't follow the ideals of the Guardian or the High Priest."

"If you are not playing properly, then stay out of the way of those who are."

"I'm playing, I'm adding a new element to this game, after all, isn't Wheeler's objective to save the Princesses?"

"Princes, not Princesses."

Bakura smirked, "Same difference."

"So what's your objective?"

"Now that would be telling." Bakura smirked. "I have no intention of explaining my objective to anyone, yet alone someone who would report back to the Pharaoh."

"Since when have you ever known me to be on his side?"

"You're not on mine…"

"I'm neutral." Robyn replied. "I'm on any side that suits my purposes."

Bakura looked at her, thinking, "How would I convince you to join my side for the duration of this battle?"

This time it was Robyn that smirked, "Ensure they get battle experience." Nodding at the hall.

Bakura smirked, "You want me to incite the battle again? I have no problem with that. In exchange, I need you to make sure that no one from either team wakes the royals; I need them to recover as much as possible. I still need them, after all."

"Done and done," Robyn smirked, "I gave them a sleeping potion already."

Bakura snorted, his amusement obvious, "And they think you're on their side." He shook his head in amazement at their stupidity, ""What about the door?"

"Guarded by the Dark Magician, besides…" Robyn held up the key.

Bakura laughed. "I take it you've charmed it as well?"

"Anyone who attempts to pick the lock will be in for a surprise." Robyn's smirk was enough warning for the Tomb Robber.

"I'll tell Draco that you're working with us and I'll instigate more fighting," Bakura nodded, "Keep your end of the bargain." He warned, and left.

"Eek!" Kari's squeak reached Robyn's ears, and she leant over the railing, to see Ombre and Ryou battling Kari, who had the high ground advantage, at least for now, if they could push Kari back a bit further, they'd be on the fifth floor, and on the same level as the entrance to the Monster's Wing.

Robyn would have done something about it from her vantage point halfway between the sixth and seventh floors, but Seto was already emerging from the corridor to help. Instead, she headed up to the seventh floor, where Luna was holding a bound Hermione at wand point.

Luna looked at her, then at Hermione and then at Robyn again, turning away from her captive, though she still held Hermione's wand, "You're not getting past me."

Robyn grinned and replied, "I don't need to." Before jumping over the railing, and landing on a moving staircase, just before the staircase Luna and Hermione were on shifted yet again.

"Hey!" Luna squeaked, as Robyn vanished from sight, having run up the moving staircase and vanished down a corridor. "Now what do I do?"

"Let me go?" Hermione suggested.

"So you can fight your way past me and win, no way." Luna shook her head… she thought for a moment and then headed down the corridor to the left, leaving Hermione on the landing.

"Luna? You can't just leave me here! LUNA!"

* * *

Nobody was quite sure who cast the spell that started the fighting off again, or from where, but someone managed to tag one of the first year Gryffindors with a jelly legs jinx that had a few of their team mates looking for the culprit and hexing those who they thought were the culprits, mainly Slytherins, though there were a couple of Ravenclaws caught in the cross fire and from there everything started back up again, much to Dumbledore's disgust as even two rather loud, rather smoky fire crackers that he conjured didn't calm the riot down.

Joey headed for the stairs again as a rather irate Professor McGonagall decided that enough was enough and the next person to hex any student of hers would see what she could do, which, unfortunately turned out to be Mokuba… "Morphus!"

Even from those on his own side there were laughs as Mokuba looked at his robes and groaned. They had been turned into a dress, a rather familiar looking dress actually, and Joey couldn't help calling over, "Déjà vu much?"

He then had to flee at Mokuba turned on him and cast several hexes, trying to hit the young man who managed to escape around a corner.

"Professor McGonagall!" Dumbledore growled, irritated that his staff members were encouraging the students, only to find that some enterprising person had attempted to copy her spell, only to give him a rather large hat with a vulture sat on the brim.

Well if Professor McGonagall was going to defend her students, then so were the other heads of Houses, dividing between the two sides, well, three now that the Slytherins were back to attacking both sides.

The Headmaster had to wonder how, exactly, he had lost control of the school.

Up on the first floor, Harry dove around a corner, only to come face to face with Draco Malfoy, who seemed all too pleased with himself. "Move Malfoy."

"Petrificus…"

"Rictusempra!" Harry was faster, easily so, thanks to all the training they had been doing over the last few months, and beat Draco to the punch, the Slytherin collapsed in laughter at the tickling charm, and it wasn't hard for Harry to dodge around Crabbe and Goyle and shoot up the steps again.

"Everte… Statum!" Draco managed to gasp, the spell only just missing, as Harry dodged it, avoiding being thrown forwards and disappeared up the steps out of sight. "Don't just stand there!" Draco growled, once he'd gasped the counter curse, "Let's get him."

* * *

Chasing Wheeler had not originally been Bakura's plan, especially when Hogwarts, and he could swear sometimes that it was sentient, seemed so determined to join in the game, changing the stairs around more frequently then normal and throwing everyone's direction off, so capturing Potter when he passed the doorway where Bakura was emerging had been a point in his favour, especially considering Potter now had the Puzzle.

Of course this now left Bakura with a prisoner he wasn't sure what to do with, and, after… liberating… the Puzzle, only temporarily of course, unless he could defeat the Pharaoh or his runt hikari when they finally woke up, he had left Harry tied up in a closet and used Colloportus to seal the door with an odd but satisfying squelch.

' _Note to self, remember to wind Pharaoh up with knowledge of where Potter is…'_ He thought.

Draco and his goons had already passed Bakura and were fighting with Wheeler when Bakura reached them, and he had the satisfaction of watching Wheeler flinch when he saw that Bakura was wearing the Puzzle.

Of course he hadn't realised that Wheeler would then proceed to attack the four of them with a ferocity that startled even the Tomb Robber, having not suspected it of **this** Guardian, and Bakura only escaped being defeated because he headed downwards, casting a few curses behind him and having the satisfaction of hearing Joey grunt, since he'd been chasing him…

A little paper bird flew into Bakura.

He glared at it and it unfolded to reveal a note from Robyn, 'SK is winning, remember our deal.'

Bakura growled and headed down into the melee, he knew how he could even this out quite nicely… well nicely for him anyway…

He hadn't quite expected to find that half the male students were now in dresses, which Professor McGonagall seemed quite happy to transfigure for them (Bakura ended up in a rather lovely black ball gown), but he did spot Mokuba quite easily.

The kid was in a fighting alongside his girlfriend… while wearing a rather fancy white and yellow dress that looked even more ornate then the dress Bakura now had on.

"Kaiba." He bellowed over the melee, ducking a couple of stunners cast his way.

Mokuba looked over, eyes widening at the sight of Bakura, in a dress, with the Puzzle, and headed over, fighting his way through the crowd, attempting to hex the Tomb Robber before he reached him and then chasing him up the flight of stairs, only to find that Joey was now fighting the Tomb Robber, tooth and nail.

"Damn it Guardian, stay out of my way." Bakura snapped as his jelly-legs jinx missed.

"Not until you hand over the Puzzle." Joey snapped.

"Fine." Bakura startled Joey by taking it off and pushing it towards him, "Take it."

"Huh?" Joey was stunned for a moment, allowing Bakura to get away.

Once he was over the shock, he figured that Bakura was already turning back towards the melee downstairs, and he headed upwards, reaching the fifth floor to find Ryou at wand point and Ombre a victim of Immobulus, their captor, Kari, was tired, but still good to go as she demonstrated by using the telekinesis given to her by the orb to hit Joey in the head with a book from the bookcase.

* * *

There were some things that Seto would kill for.

The safety of his little brother was one of those things, so when Kisara informed him that Bakura was holding his little brother prisoner obviously, and quite rightly, his little brother's safety came ahead of the responsibilities of the battle.

The trick was getting past the mutt, who had defeated Kari with the aid of Ombre and Ryou, without getting caught by any spells.

This was much easier then he had expected it to be, but left the Monster's Wing door wide open as he headed down the stairs to battle Bakura himself.

What he didn't realise was that Luna was in fact waiting on Harry's broomstick about halfway up and Robyn had set traps all the way up the first couple of flights of stairs in the tower and was working on the third.

Of course the interference of one Ronald Weasley had been both unexpected and irritating, as Ron led a group of Gryffindors that had managed to break away from the main battle downstairs, up towards the Monster's Wing.

Oh that was the last thing they needed, trust Weasley to go overboard… a bunch of Ravenclaws, led by Ginny Weasley, Mokuba's girlfriend, followed closely behind…

Mokuba first, keeping ahead in the game later…

He arrived on the third floor and headed down the corridor to where Bakura was waiting for him.

"Where's my brother?"

* * *

Ron had his back to the wall, as they fought with the Ravenclaws that had followed them to the Monster's Wing. The battle here had been going their way until a rather irate Dark Magician Girl had decided that she was going to blast everyone who was making enough noise to wake up her baby daughter, who was now safely with Mahado outside the Pharaoh's room, which, thankfully, had a silencing charm on so that the noise didn't filter through.

Also thankfully, Mana wasn't using her full power, only enough to push both groups away from the doors on the right hand side and back towards the entrance to the wing.

"Incarcerous!" Ron bellowed, casting at Mana, who gave him an incredibly irritated look as she floated in mid air, bound tightly. The spell didn't hold long as Mana dispelled the rope, but it was long enough for Ron and a couple of his guys to slip past the Dark Magician Girl and get into Dragon Tower.

Only to be stopped a floor up by a force field.

"Merlin's beard!" Ron complained, wishing he had his broomstick, which was, of course, still with Hermione.

They backed out of the tower, ready to head for the seventh floor, only to find a rather more irritated Mana waiting for them.

"Uh oh…"

* * *

Joey was wondering what had happened to Luna and Hermione as he, Ryou and Ombre reached the three quarter point on Dragon Tower, so close now that they could see it… and Harry, what had happened to Harry to give Bakura the chance to take the Puzzle from him…

Joey snarled, thinking that he should have stuck around to find out what Bakura had done under the cover of the battle…

And where had Kaiba gone?

Joey didn't like this in the slightest, it was like someone was running this battle under their noses and they weren't paying enough attention to notice it, too focused on their own objectives…

"Ombre, Ryou, you can handle the rest of the job, can't you?" He asked, heading back down.

"Where are you going, Joey?"

"To find Harry." Joey growled, one hand on the Puzzle, "Hermione, Luna and Kaiba too."

"You want to find Kaiba?" Ombre looked surprised.

"He's missing and there's always an epic climatic battle which draws the story to a close." Joey pointed out… "Keep going up, I'll meet you there…"

* * *

Harry was rubbing his wrists and ankles, trying to get some feeling back into his hands and feet. Bakura hadn't exactly been easy on him when he'd locked him up…

"Luna…" Harry went to thank her but Luna grinned and gave him a hug.

"S'ok."

"How's the battle going?"

"Kaiba was ahead, but I think the tide's turning." Luna said thoughtfully, "The battle downstairs is turning too, but I don't have much of an idea how, I left my post in Dragon Tower to come and rescue you."

"I have to find Bakura. He took the Puzzle."

"Joey has it now." Luna shook her head.

"How did Joey get the Puzzle from Bakura?"

Luna shrugged.

"Isn't Kaiba going to be irritated that you left your post to rescue the enemy?"

"Kaiba went somewhere and hasn't been back since, and Robyn's setting traps in the tower."

"I thought Robyn was on our side…"

"So did we, but apparently she's on the side of not letting anyone reach the top of Dragon Tower, ever."

"So how are Yugi and Yami going to come down when they've woken up?"

"I don't think anyone's thought of this."

Harry face palmed.

* * *

It had to be said, they were well and truly trapped.

Sat halfway up the stairs to the top floor, Joey, Ombre and Ryou were examining the barrier between them and the next flight of stairs, trying to find some weakness they hadn't thought of yet. Unfortunately back wasn't an option either, since there was another barrier blocking them from returning the way they'd come, which had activated when Joey had gone to look for Harry and Hermione, so they couldn't leave the tower and try something else.

Robyn waved merrily at them from above, where she was setting up tripwires.

"Wasn't Robyn just downstairs?"

"Yes, she was. Should we be worried about whatever she's setting up?"

"Yes, yes we should."

"Well there's one plus side to being stuck three quarters of the way up Dragon Tower." Ombre said as she watched Robyn work.

"What's that?"

"We know Bakura can't get past us."

"That's true." Joey looked pleased by this thought. "However this doesn't change the fact that we're stuck."

"We could try jumping." Ombre pointed to the stairs below and to the right of them.

"We could, but that's going down, not up. If we head up those stairs we end up back here."

Then they heard a most unnerving noise. Robyn was cackling. And hundreds, if not thousands, of bubbles were floating towards them.

Joey jumped, Ryou and Ombre close behind.

As the bubbles popped, they left behind something which looked rather like faery dust, or as a Muggle raised student might call it, glitter.

"We just fled from glitter…"

"Thank the Gods that Bakura or Kaiba never saw us… we'd never live it down."

"Weeeeeeeeeeeee!" Harry grinned as he shot up the middle of the tower, on his broomstick, flying through the glitter and carrying on going until he reached the top floor, except that wasn't what happened.

What actually happened was that Harry hit the glitter, carried on going for a moment, and then went in completely the opposite direction, lost his grip on his broomstick now that he was in fact going upside down because of the inverted gravity, and dropped onto a staircase… the bottom of a staircase… he was upside down on a stair case.

"So fleeing from the glitter was a good idea then?" Joey asked.

"Apparently."

"Um... guys? I think I'm stuck. Any ideas how to get off this staircase?" asked Harry, wandering back and forth, on the undersides of the staircase.

"Keep going up." Joey suggested, "Or try passing through the glitter again."

"You really don't want to try that." Robyn called down, "It'll take even longer to wear off if you go through again; we might not be able to get you down for days. Or worse, you might end up sideways or something..."

"Err, guys... what is going on?" Yugi asked, as he and Yami peered over the edge of the staircase at the glitter and the bouncing Robyn and the general insanity that was breaking out down at the bottom of the tower.

"War games!" Robyn happily declared, "Welcome back to the house of insanity, you've been missed."

Yami paused, decided he didn't wasn't awake enough to deal with this and turned to his hikari, "Yugi, I'm going back to bed."

Robyn smirked, "And so the mighty have fallen to my plotting!"

"What the what?"

"More sleepy time for the idiot who refuses to sleep." She giggled, "And voluntarily too."

Yami didn't grace Robyn with a response, he just turned around and re-entered the tower room, while Yugi took his wand from Mahado. "I'll be down in a sec." Yugi called, turning and having a conversation that the others couldn't quite hear with Yami, before vanishing as he headed down the stairs.

Joey, who was heading up to see if he could help Harry at all, was startled, a moment later to find Yugi go rolling past him, gift wrapped with a silver ribbon, and watched in amazement as Yugi continued to roll down the stairs till he reached the bottom and landed, stunned, at the feet of Seto Kaiba.

Robyn's giggling told Joey exactly whose trap that had been…

Seto, who wasn't exactly sure what was going on, plucked the gift tag off of the still stunned Yugi.

"To Seto, have fun with this, from Robyn."

Seto had to fight very hard not to lose it at that comment, gaining a rather evil smirk as he decided exactly what he was going to do as he picked up Yugi and led his forces in a retreat.

"Did Seto just…" Joey hoped he hadn't just seen what he thought he'd seen.

"Kidnap Yugi." Ombre nodded with a groan.

"How did Yugi roll past the barriers?" Ryou complained.

"Probably set to fall when a certain person walked… rolled… past." Ombre sighed. "Should we get Yami?"

Yami didn't need getting, he'd felt Yugi's shock as he'd fallen down the stairs, had emerged from the room just a little too late to see Seto escaping with his prisoner and was now looking at the over the railing, deciding he didn't want to know why Harry's broom was currently lying on the ceiling. "What…?"

"Yugi triggered a trap, fell… rolled, down the stairs and Seto just kidnapped him." Harry explained helpfully as he peered over the edge of the stairs to look up at him.

"Why are you on the bottom of the stairs?" Yami asked, then paused, "And why did Seto kidnap Yugi?"

"Robyn's fault and because Seto's the enemy."

"Seto's the enemy?" Yami looked confused. "Since when?"

"Since the morning training session."

"What time is it now?"

"Uh, coming up on lunch time I think."

Yami frowned, "I'll be down in a minute, then I want to know what's been going on while we've been asleep."

"Mind the stairs." Joey called up to him. "Robyn's set traps…"

Yami got his wand from Mahado and accioed Harry's broomstick.

"Don't fly through the glitter." Harry advised.

"In one window out the other." Yami shrugged.

"Kisara's guarding the windows."

"So I'm stuck up here, while Seto, who is apparently against us, has Yugi?"

"Pretty much."

"Fine." Yami vanished and Joey wondered what he was up to.

Next thing he knew there was another Muto rolling past him, gift wrapped, who rolled all the way to the bottom, but this time there were only members of Joey's team and a couple of Beuxbatons students down there.

By the time Joey reached the bottom, George had almost finished unwrapping Yami, who sat there looking rather dazed.

"Yami? You ok?" Dazed crimson met concerned chocolate and Yami shook his head to try to shift the dizziness. It did nothing but make him more dizzy and cause him to groan.

"Yami?"

"Fine, just dizzy." The Pharaoh groaned as Joey helped him to his feet. "What's going on here? What's this about war games and why is Seto the enemy? How exactly did this all start?"

"Well you see, there's a funny story behind all of this… You're going to laugh, believe me, you are going to laugh." Joey insisted.

Yami gave him a disbelieving glare of doom if he didn't hurry up and explain right now.

* * *

"You have two choices." Seto growled at Yugi as Mokuba enervated Kari, his forces having retreated, temporarily, to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

"What's going on?" Yugi demanded, squirming in an attempt to reach his wand, "Let me go Seto!" He glowered as he realised that the ribbon seemed to be getting tighter the more he struggled and ceased doing so for the time being.

"It's a war game, Yugi." Seto smirked, "Why would I free a prisoner?"

"Because you know Yami will come after you when he wakes up?" Yugi tried.

_`Yugi?`_

" _Harry? Help!"_ Yugi yelped over the mind link, _"What's going on?"_

' _Where are you?'_ Yami asked, concern obvious.

" _Ravenclaw Common Room."_

' _Ra damn it…'_

Yugi refrained from further mental conversation as he realised that Seto knew exactly what he was doing.

"You were just talking with Yami weren't you?"

"And Harry." Yugi admitted, knowing that lying was pointless.

"Thought so." Seto nodded, as if he'd just made up his mind about something, "You've woken up to a civil war, Yugi, and we," He indicated himself and his forces, which were spread over the Common Room, up the halls and out into the corridor, "Are guarding the castle, while your friends are trying to invade."

"Why?"

"Because they're trying to free the damsels in distress." Seto smirked.

"Damsels?" Yugi asked, looking around as bets he could, eyes widening as he looked at Mokuba, who was in the dress that he recognised as Princess Adnia's from that virtual game, "Please tell me that's just a dress and nothing else has changed."

Mokuba scowled at him, while Seto laughed, "No your highness, but I'm sure you've heard of 'save the Princess' game play before."

"Save the…" Yugi squeaked, "But I'm a guy!"

Mokuba started laughing at his reaction as Seto continued, enjoying winding Yugi up, "We're at a standstill at the moment, they've probably reached Yami by now, but we have you."

"Which is where those choices come in, I'm guessing."

"Two choices, you can either be a hostage who is left here, bound and guarded by a group of rather imposing seventh years, or you can be a hostage who unwillingly works for us."

"So either way I'm a hostage,"

"Yami won't see it any other way."

"Point." Yugi sighed.

"Come on Yugi, it's fun." Mokuba giggled, "It's only a game."

Yugi paused, thought for a moment, then firmly closed the mind link to Yami and Harry before responding to Kaiba, "What do you need me to do?"

* * *

"Sorry Hermione." Harry said, as he untied the bushy haired witch who was scowling at them.

She hissed at him as she got to her feet, "I take it it's over, if Yami's here…"

Yami shook his head, "Seto got Yugi and Yugi's blocking me."

"Why would Yugi block you if he's been captured…" She paused, "And why does Joey have the Puzzle?"

"Oops." Joey handed it to Yami.

"Why did you have the Puzzle?" Yami asked, wondering why he hadn't questioned it before.

"Got it from Bakura." Joey said very, very quietly.

"Bakura?" Yami snarled, "How did Bakura get his hands on the Puzzle?"

"I got captured." Harry was quiet and Yami turned to look at him, calming quickly in his concern, "He took it, sorry."

"Are you alright?"

"Fine."

"And you Joey?"

"I'm good."

"I'll deal with him later then." Yami surprised them all by saying, "As long as neither of you are hurt…"

"We're fine, better then fine, we're great." Joey babbled, "Now, how are we saving Yugi?"

"Well, he said he was in the Ravenclaw Common, before the link got blocked." Harry said, thinking.

"So we need to capture a Ravenclaw…" Ron started.

"They'll be guarding the Common Room, what we need to do is lure them out." Yami scowled, "But I don't know how."

"A climatic battle." Joey grinned, "We challenge Seto to a one on one, winner takes all fight and while everyone's watching that, we break into the Ravenclaw Common Room and save Yuge."

"Would Seto be stupid enough to accept?"

"Well he is playing the villain."

"Whoever we send with the message is likely to be captured."

"We really should gather our forces and tell them what's going on." Hermione frowned.

"Right…"

"I'll go," Harry grinned, "No one in school has a faster broom then mine."

"And you're bloody hard to hit." Joey nodded, "Have them come to the Monst… bad idea… Transfiguration Classrooms."

"Right." Harry nodded and took off.

"Next, transfiguration classrooms."

* * *

Bakura had called Slytherin House to him when Kaiba had rallied his own troops and Wheeler was now doing the same from his.

The battle was coming to a close, he could see it, and what was funny was that the teachers had no idea what was going on and no clue that there was one last battle to be fought. The war wasn't over yet, and wouldn't be for a little while longer yet, but there wasn't that much more fighting to be done.

Stomachs before leaders after all.

Durmstrang were bored, having already pulled back to the courtyard, and were talking about returning to the ship, while Beuxbatons had already pulled back to the Hufflepuff common room and it looked like they were just waiting for the next round.

Fleur was a surprisingly good leader and Krum had had to step up his game.

Of course this hadn't affected Bakura's plan, other then needing to cause more distractions, but now that the Princes were awake, he could focus on causing as much chaos for all the sides as possible without having to worry about the blasted tower.

And while he waited, he had orders… sorry… suggestions… to hand out.

* * *

It was quiet, too quiet, and Dumbledore didn't like it in the slightest.

When the student forces had split up, Dumbledore had sent his teachers with them, spreading them out but allowing them to sit in on the student's plans, figure out exactly what was going on and ensure that this didn't get any more out of hand then it already was.

He was guarding the main hallways, aware that just around the corner were the Durmstrang lot, who were waiting for either the fighting to start again, or the order, from their leader, Vicktor Krum, to retreat.

Surprisingly, for all of the fighting that had happened, the Great Hall was relatively untouched, and the tables were being laid for lunch. The House Elves were completely unphased by the battles going around them and had prepared lunch as if nothing unusual was happening.

The Headmaster couldn't help wondering though, how the sides were going to deal with lunch, if they'd take it in turns, call a temporary truce or if there would be a fight for the Great Hall.

* * *

Seto and his forces were already waiting when Joey and his troops reached the courtyard.

"Wheeler." Seto smirked at him, Mokuba and Kari at his side.

"Kaiba." Joey growled back, Yami and Harry at his side. The only ones missing from this scene were Ryou, Ombre and a few others, who were preparing to break into the Ravenclaw Common Rooms. "I'm here, as agreed."

Seto snorted, "Have chosen your Champion to duel alongside you?"

"It's my honour to have Yami fighting at my side." Joey nodded as Yami stepped forward.

Seto's smirk widened. "Oh that's just perfect." He grinned, gesturing to the crowd on his side, who parted to allow Yugi through. "Meet my champion."

"Yugi?!" Yami yelped, shocked.

Yugi smirked, a look that was completely out of place on his face, as he activated his Duel Disk.

"What did you do to him?" Yami snapped at Seto, who was unsurprised at Yami's forcefulness, but it was Yugi's cold laugh that turned the Pharaoh's attention away. "Yugi, why?"

"He made me an offer I couldn't refuse." Yugi replied, his tone making Yami flinch. "Are you going to fight or forfeit?"

"Yugi…" Yami hesitated, not really wanting to fight his hikari when he was acting like this…

"I'll pick someone else, Yami." Joey said, seeing Yami's hesitation and looking back at Harry or Rebecca, wondering exactly what he had offered Yugi to make him fight them.

"No." Yami growled, shaking his head and activating his Duel Disk. "I'll fight."

Yami jumped as he felt the mind link poke him, _"Game on Yami?"_

Yami had to fight very hard not to grin, as the link opened and he sensed Yugi's amusement and anticipation. _'Your acting skills have improved.'_ Yami snorted down the link.

" _Well, it is a game and I have to play my role…"_ Yugi laughed.

' _And I'll play mine.'_ Yami sent, amusement now reigning, "You won't win Kaiba, and when this is over, Yugi's coming with us."

"You won't win." Seto smirked, "We will, and when we do, you're going to call off your attack on the castle and admit that we won."

"Since this all started because you refused to admit that I beat you this morning," Joey growled, "You have to release Yugi, admit that we won and admit that I beat you earlier."

"Deal." Seto smirked, "Though I don't know why we're repeating everything we went over in the messages."

"So everyone knows exactly what the conditions are." Yami snorted. "Hikari, I'm not going to go easy on you just because you've been forced into working for the other side."

"Good, because I have no intention of losing." Yugi snorted back at him, well aware of the confusion on his friend's faces… well bar Harry, who was backing off and looked like he was trying to contain his amusement and failing, since he'd heard the conversation between Yami and Yugi.

"First turn is yours Yami." Kaiba smirked, amused at the banter.

"Then let's Duel."

* * *

"Miss Golden, what exactly do you think you're doing?"

"Aiding in the defence of the castle?" Robyn offered to the Headmaster.

"What?"

"I've been recruited to help one of the sides in the Interhouse Wargames." Robyn said with a straight face. "So, Professor, who do you think wins the Interhouse War trophy?"

"The what?"

"Well... I'm sure you are well aware of all of Hogwarts traditions, but the Interhouse Wargames haven't been played for over three hundred years, I think the students have preformed this re-enactment surprisingly well."

"Re-enactment?"

"Well, yes. I first heard of this when I saw Muggles play acting out old battles; I thought it was a prefect opportunity to act out one of the many battles that has taken place at Hogwarts." Robyn said, "Gives the students more interest in history."

"...but it was chaos..."

"Well, it was a war, what do you expect?"

"Two sides?"

"No no no no no! What are you thinking? Only two sides? In Hogwarts? Why, anyone would think the students were playing Lords of Light and Darkness. No. Anyway, you should know, War doesn't work that way."

"This was organised?"

"Well yes, of course, I was really impressed at what the students did with such short notice, and wasn't Hogwarts amazing?"

Dumbledore had to agree there, he had noticed that the school itself, which was alive with magicks older and more powerful then most would accredit a building, which had built up over hundreds and hundreds of years, had been moving staircases and locking doors and generally acting up much more then normal.

It was almost as if Hogwarts herself had been playing along.

Miss Golden certainly seemed to believe that she had been…

"I'll decide who wins the trophy once the final battle's played out." Dumbledore decided. _But I have to find it or get a new one first…_

* * *

"Well of course you were going to lose, how exactly did you plan on beating the God cards?" Kari laughed as she poked Seto at lunch time.

The CEO was 'not' sulking, but he had made one miscalculation, "I thought it was Yugi's turn to hold them."

"Didn't you think to ask him?" Kari smiled, trying not to laugh, "Yugi hasn't held the God Cards since the Millennium Items went missing. He won't take them."

"I'd have come up with another plan if I'd known that." Seto scowled at her.

"You didn't ask." Kari giggled.

"Next time, give me any important information you might have please." Seto continued to scowl at her.

"Next time?" Kari yelped, "All the Houses are on minus House Points and the House Cup isn't being distributed because we didn't warn the Headmaster about our 're-enactment'… I wonder who thought that up…"

"There'll be a next time. I'll win too."

"What did you offer Yugi to make his fight for your side?" Kari asked, curiosity burning.

"Nothing. I just reminded him that it was a game." Seto smirked, "You all seemed to forget that."

"We did, didn't we?" Kari laughed. "Oh well. Better luck next time Seto."

"Go sit on your own table." He mock glowered at her and she left.

Once she was gone, he smirked. He was already making plans, there would be next time, he was sure of it. It had been too much fun for Joey not to want to try it again.

And next time, he wouldn't lose.


End file.
